And 'I was hoping that' ... 10,600 hits.

But what I tried first, Paco, was 'I've/I have been hoping'-- this was a dismal failure (only 121 hits). I had thought that that would be more productive, because the durative expresses greater emotional attachment to the statement-- and it seems very natural to me. Your 'I am hoping that' rates second in your list.

'I have hoped' does not sound particularly strange to me; perhaps it is just that we most frequently 'hope' constantly in the simple timeless, or not at all.

"Since my school days, I have always hoped that I could speak English." -- this sounds fine to me too, Paco.

It doesn't seem to be wrong, just rare. Overall, it is a mystery to me, but I have a feeling that the concept of 'hoping' is often connected with-- obviously-- 'a hope', that is, a discrete event rather than an ongoing desire inside.

The past perfect, 'had hoped', can easily represent a discrete event (prior to another past activity, of course), so we would say 'I had hoped that I would become a doctor, but I discovered that I couldn't stand the sight of blood.' This could easily apply to a single 'hope' that is retained, rather than a continuing feeling. In fact, if we want to express the continuing feeling, we are usually pressed into using the p.p. continuous: 'I had been hoping to meet Dr. Seuss for many years, when suddenly he walked in the door'-- thus showing that the hope was active and omnipresent to the speaker.

These contrasting uses are not so effective in present tenses, because the present perfect has other more common uses than to separate discrete events from ongoing ones. 'I have hoped' seems primarily to suggest the 'continuing from indefinite past to now' interpretation, and 'I have been hoping' seems more to suggest the 'heightened interest/politeness' factor. These interpretations are common in the present tenses, but not so in the past tenses-- I guess because the past is completed fact, and not so affected by courtesy.

Re your hope getting faint-- yes, and I think that is an example of the usual use of the past perfect, eh? The structure says that the hope happened first, then the U.S. visit occurred. It too seems suggestive of the idea that 'a hope' is often subconsciously considered a single event remembered rather than a continuing desire.


Does that get us anywhere?

Interestingly, "I have always hoped" googles 7500, vs 11000 for "I had always hoped".

MrP

Velimir

“unjustly buried for a long time”

That's a matter of opinion! 

Velimir

“" I have thought it is ..but it has just proved otherwise"”

Right.  It seems that with many mental stative verbs the present perfect is not used as expected.

Velimir

“what would I say now, after a year of waiting, given that I've never lost hope of getting the answer in the meantime”

I thought you would respond.

I thought you would have responded (by now).

The present perfect typically goes with always, and not with the would have construction.

I've always thought you would respond. [Unlike the examples above, this suggests 'ever-present thought' -- never stopped thinking ...]

The same patterns are used for the verbs believe, hope, fear, be afraid.

CJ