Momentary verbs

Question

1 I'm an athele and I have high jumped in competitions for over 7 years

2 I'm an athelte and I have been high jumping in competitions for over 7 years.

Now, I'm sure that 2 is correct, but I have doubts about 1. Is it true that one is wrong because the verb "jump" is momentary and therefore I could say "I'm an athlete and I have jumped in competitions many times for over 7 years" but without showing how many only 2 sentence is right. What is your opinion?

It's a slightly odd way for an athlete to talk about their event. Since they probably don't "jump" but do a specific event such as the "Long Jump" or "High Jump". This sentence doesn't tell the listener the main piece of information: It doesn't say what event the athlete does. — James K, Mar 02 '24 at 06:51
That fixes the concern, but neither sentence seems very idiomatic. — James K, Mar 02 '24 at 07:25

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '24 at 13:07

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A similar question was raised here recently about the relationship between job titles and associated verbs. For example, teachers might say "I taught for 20 years" but builders don't usually say the equivalent "I built for 20 years" - it just isn't idiomatic. They would more likely say "I worked as a builder for 20 years".

I don't believe that 'high jumpers' would say "I high jumped". It isn't idiomatic, it isn't grammatical, and I've certainly never heard it.

answered Mar 02 '24 at 13:07

Astralbee

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Thank you for your answer. It may be that I didn't really display to my doubts properly. I was told that in English we have verbs which naturally convey the idea of continuity for example "work, use, play" with these verbs there is no difference between Continuous and simple aspect I could say "I have been playing for 20 years versus I have played for 20 years" and there is no difference. I was also informed that in English we have so-called short verbs. So for example "kick catch throw" – Bob Mar 02 '24 at 13:30
People told me that it may be awkward to use these verbs with tge simple aspect. So for example things like "As a football player I kicked balls for 7 years" may be awkward and that is more accurate to say "as a football player I've been kicking balls for 7 years." Do you agree with that or or no? – Bob Mar 02 '24 at 13:33
@Bob yes you're right that work, play etc are variously used as 'I have been working' or 'I have worked' and are often interchangeable. And some specific occupations may be similarly idiomatic as verbs (eg 'I have taught', 'I have been teaching') but my answer tells you that the sport of 'high jump' is not used that way. – Astralbee Mar 02 '24 at 13:47
So my example "have kicked" is fine? – Bob Mar 02 '24 at 14:20
@Bob it's fine grammatically, and you've included the context, so it will be understood. All I'm saying is that it isn't idiomatic in the same way that some other words identify both an action and a vocation. – Astralbee Mar 02 '24 at 14:50

Momentary verbs

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