What is the difference between the present perfect progressive and the present perfect?

"
That's another good question! Take a look at these 2 sentences:
Present Perfect
Progressive
Present Perfect

I have been teaching at Columbia

University for 23 years
I have taught at Columbia University for
23 years.

The answer is very simple: there is NO DIFFERENCE. If you remember correctly, there are 2
kinds of present perfect:
SINCE or FOR?

Example

1 NO since or for

I have
smoked.

I have
YES, there is since
smoked for
or for
12 years.

Meaning
NOT SURE it
continues
The person smoked in
the past (we don't know
when), and he/she may
still smoke, but we do
not know.
SURE it continues
The person started to
smoke 12 years ago,
and he/she still
smokes.

Do you see what the meaning of the second kind of present perfect is? It is the same meaning
as the present perfect progressive! That's right! When the present perfect has since or
for, it has the same meaning as the present perfect progressive!
As you can see, the present perfect has 2 meanings. However, the present perfect
progressive has only 1 meaning: it started in the past and continues until now.
There is one more thing you must remember: some verbs usually do NOT have -ing. For
example, we say I know you. We would never say I am knowing you. That's because
know canNOT have -ing. Verbs that cannot have -ing are called stative verbs.Here is a list of
stative verbs. The words on the following list rarely have -ing. Therefore, they are rarely used
with the present perfect progressive.
STATIVE VERBS
know
understand owe
possess
have*
belong
contain
equal
tend
perceive suppose believe
conclude prefer
love
like
*have with the meaning of possession: I have

be
resemble
decide
seem
a pen.

Because these verbs cannot be used with the present perfect progressive, you can just use
the present perfect with since or for:

INCORRECT
CORRECT

We have been knowing you for a long

time.
We have known you for a long time.

In order to summarize the present perfect progressive and the present perfect, look at the
following chart:
present
perfect NO I have lived in Korea.
since or for
present
I have lived in Korea
perfect WITH
since 1997.
since or for
present
I have been living in
perfect
Korea since 1997.
progressive

Not sure if this person still

lives in Korea; the time is
also unknown.
We are sure this person
still lives in Korea; we also
know the time.
We are sure this person
still lives in Korea; we also
know the time.

The second and third sentences above have identical meanings. The first and second
sentences have (potentially) different meanings even though they look almost the same.
You may be asking, "Which one should I use? When should I use the present perfect
progressive, and when should I use the present perfect with since or for?"
Actually, for some verbs, it doesn't matter, for example, the verb live (see above). However,
for many verbs, if you want to say that the action started in the past and continues until now, it
is better to use the present perfect progressive. Take a look at the following examples:
NOT natural
Natural

We have painted our house since last

night.
We have been painting our house since
last night.

Often there is very little difference between the present perfect simple and the present perfect continuous.
In many cases, both are equally acceptable.They've been working here for a long time but Andy has
worked here for even longer.I've lived here for 10 years and she has been living here for 12 years.
To emphasize the action, we use the continuous form.

We've been working really hard for a couple of months.

She's been having a hard time.
To emphasize the result of the action, we use the simple form.
I've made fifteen phone calls this morning.
He's written a very good report.