have been there for three months

[ademoglu]

Hi,

''I have been there for three months. I couldn't imagine a better gym. It has no cult-like ambiance and you can do as much or as little as you like....''

I read the above sentence as a comment about a gym on Facebook. I would like to ask if it should not be 'I was there for three months' because the person is not there anymore.

Thanks.

 

[emsr2d2]

What makes you think they're not there any more? Someone doesn't have to be physically in a location. In this context, I assume the speaker still attends the gym, and is still a member. On that basis, the present perfect is fine.

It's the same as "I have been a member of that gym for three months".

Note the correct spelling of "ambience".

 

[ademoglu]

So many thanks for the answer. But What about this one? https://www.tripadvisor.com/FAQ_Ans..._have_been_there_for_several_month_If_my.html

Hotel Laxarbakki Questions & Answers

''I have been there for several month. If my information are rubbish please share a picture of the steam bath! Probably if you stay just a day you cannot understand how low is the quality. And tell you again.... for 170 euro night. Room must been cleaned every day.!''

Should it not be 'I stayed there for several months.'?

Thanks again.

 

[ademoglu]

So 'I have been there for several months' is also wrong, isn't it? Would you use the present perfect or simple past if you wanted to comment on such a situation?

 

[Matthew Wai]

That depends on whether the writer is still there at the time of writing.

 

[Raymott]

I would have written "ambiance" too.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ambiance

 

[emsr2d2]

Interesting. I've never seen "ambiance" in English, only in French. However, I see that both are accepted so I retract my claim that "-ence" is the only correct spelling.

http://grammarist.com/spelling/ambiance-ambience/