Present Perfect or Past Simple

[iteach]

hi
i know this sounds silly
but i wonder if you could help me with this? my students have answered both and im confused

How long did you live in your last flat?

or How long have you lived in your last flat?

i know that the action has started and finished
some time in the past, thus makes it past simple
but
don't we generally use Present perfect with how long?
like
how long have you been there for?!
thanks

[anreak]

Originally Posted by iteach

hi
i know this sounds silly
but i wonder if you could help me with this? my students have answered both and im confused

How long did you live in your last flat?

or How long have you lived in your last flat?

i know that the action has started and finished
some time in the past, thus makes it past simple
but
don't we generally use Present perfect with how long?
like
how long have you been there for?!
thanks

It seems to me that in the second one the person has just moved to another flat, let's say one month ago. In the first one there's no information about time, it could be one or ten years ago.

I'm also looking for a better answer though.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by iteach

hi
i know this sounds silly
but i wonder if you could help me with this? my students have answered both and im confused

How long did you live in your last flat?

or How long have you lived in your last flat?

i know that the action has started and finished
some time in the past, thus makes it past simple
but
don't we generally use Present perfect with how long?
like
how long have you been there for?!
thanks

We use the present perfect for things that have a sense of "up to now".

"How long have you lived in flats?"

would be okay if that person were still living in a flat.

As for your two examples, only the past simple works.

[bhaisahab]

Originally Posted by iteach

hi
i know this sounds silly
but i wonder if you could help me with this? my students have answered both and im confused

How long did you live in your last flat?

or How long have you lived in your last flat?

i know that the action has started and finished
some time in the past, thus makes it past simple
but
don't we generally use Present perfect with how long?
like
how long have you been there for?!
thanks

Hi,
I find that sentence 2. is a bit strange with "have".

[riverkid]

Note that the present perfect of experience, one of a number of PP uses, can still be used for your example, Iteach. It can do this because it contains within a sense of "up to now", usually noted by 'ever'.

Have you ever lived in a flat?