have wanted to do/ have been wanting to do

Could anyone tell me the difference between "have wanted to do" and "have been wanting to do"? I often say "I've been wanting to go there!" when someone invite me to the restaurant that I got to know before and has been thinking I want to go since then. But one of my friends said "I've wanted to go there." in the same situation today. Which is correct/common usage?

Solution 1:

In standard English, the word, "want" is a stative verb, according to the book, ABC of Common Grammatical Errors written by Nigel Turton. And in the Perfect English Grammar website at https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/stative-verbs.html, it states, "Some English verbs, which we call state, non-continuous or stative verbs, aren't used in continuous tenses (like the present continuous, or the future continuous). These verbs often describe states that last for some time." Thus, "I have wanted" is the correct form, and "I have been wanting" sounds ungrammatical. Also, we don't say, "I have been knowing you for a long time", but we say, " I have known you for a long time."