Live, work, study and learn with the present perfect and progressive

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Rachel Adams

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With verbs "to study," "live" and "work" if I am saying that the action is still ongoing is it wrong to use the present perfect instead of the continuous?

1. "I have been learning/studying English for two months."

2. "I have been working here for two years."

3. "I have been living here for two years "

And in questions is the progressive more natural?

4. "How long have you been learning/studying English"?

5. "How long have you been living here?"

6. "How long have you been working here?"
 

5jj

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With verbs "to study," "live" and "work" if I am saying that the action is still ongoing is it wrong to use the present perfect instead of the continuous?
It depends on the context of the situation and on the way the speaker views the situation.
 

emsr2d2

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In 5 and 6, the present perfect is possible with no change in meaning. It doesn't work in 4.
 

Rachel Adams

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In 5 and 6, the present perfect is possible with no change in meaning.

Do you mean in other sentences there is a change in meaning between the present perfect and progressive?
 

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Well, learning and studying are two different things. (You can do one without doing the other one.)
 

emsr2d2

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Do you mean in other sentences there is a change in meaning between the present perfect and progressive?

If you change question 4 to "How long have you studied English [for]?", there is no way of knowing if you're still studying English. The question could just mean "How long, in your entire life, have you spent on English study?" Using the continuous (progressive) makes it clear you are still studying English.

In 5 and 6, "How long have you been living/working here?" and "How long have you lived/worked here?" mean the same.
 

Rachel Adams

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If you change question 4 to "How long have you studied English [for]?", there is no way of knowing if you're still studying English. The question could just mean "How long, in your entire life, have you spent on English study?" Using the continuous (progressive) makes it clear you are still studying English.

In 5 and 6, "How long have you been living/working here?" and "How long have you lived/worked here?" mean the same.

But in case the person who is asking this question knows that the other person is no longer learning English, would it be wrong to use the simple past? "How long did you study English?"
 

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Well, learning and studying are two different things. (You can do one without doing the other one.)

Which is correct when talking about languages?
 

emsr2d2

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But [STRIKE]in case[/STRIKE] if the person who is asking this question knows that the other person is no longer learning English, would it be wrong to use the simple past? "How long did you study English?"

The simple past would be the only suitable tense if the speaker knows that the listener is no longer studying English.
 

5jj

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emsr2d2

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GoesStation

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With the verbs "[STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] study," "live" and "work", if I am saying that the action is still ongoing, is it wrong to use the present perfect instead of the continuous?

Do you mean in the other sentences there is a change in meaning between the present perfect and progressive?
See above.
 

Rachel Adams

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If you change question 4 to "How long have you studied English [for]?", there is no way of knowing if you're still studying English. The question could just mean "How long, in your entire life, have you spent on English study?"

Is it like asking "how many countries have you visited?" As in "how many countries in your entire life have you visited? And we have no idea if the person plans on travelling again. (As I mistakingly thought that if we have the present perfect then the action is unfinished, my previous thread: "I have had three exams."
.

You said 5 and 6 mean the same. They mean the person is still living/working. Is that right?
 

emsr2d2

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In 5 and 6, "How long have you been living/working here?" and "How long have you lived/worked here?" mean the same.

You said 5 and 6 mean the same. They mean the person is still living/working. Is that right?

They both mean the person is still living/working here.
 

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It depends on what you want to say. I studied Latin for ten years, but never learnt much.

I have learned a little Spanish, but I haven't studied it.
 

Rachel Adams

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They both mean the person is still living/working here.

Is my comment under your answer in post 13 correct? I couldn't separate them:-?
 

Rachel Adams

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It depends on the context of the situation and on the way the speaker views the situation.

Do you mean in these statements below if I use the present perfect the meaning would be the same?

A: "I have been learning/studying English for two months." (I am still studying).

B: "I have learnt/studied English for two months." (I am still studying)


A: I have been working here for two years." ( I am still working)

B: I have worked here for two years." (I am still working)


A: "I have been living here for two years." ( I am still living)

B: "I have lived here for two years." (I am still living)

If I remove "for" they would be understood as completed actions meaning I am no longer working living or studying.

If I remember correctly from previous discussions both the present perfect and the progressive could be used to describe completed actions in the right context even with "for". For example, "I am about to leave my house in which I spent my childhood and say "I have been living or I have lived here for 20 years." Or I am leaving my office and say "I have been working here" or "I have worked here for ten years." For English: "I have been learning/studying/ English for two months now I am going to switch to another course. It would be interesting to know the present perfect doesn't work in questions ("how long have you learnt/studied English?) does it work in statements? For example "I have studied/learnt English for two months now I am going to switch to another course." To refer to an action which is completed as in previous examples. I am no longer living working or studying.
 
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emsr2d2

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Do you mean in these statements below if I use the present perfect the meaning would be the same?

A: "I have been learning/studying English for two months." (I am still studying).
B: "I have learnt/studied English for two months." (I am still studying)

C: I have been working here for two years." ( I am still working here)
D: I have worked here for two years." (I am still working here)

E: "I have been living here for two years." ( I am still living here)
F: "I have lived here for two years." (I am still living here)

If I remove "for" they would be understood as completed actions meaning I am no longer working here, living here or studying English.

If I remember correctly from previous discussions, both the present perfect and the progressive could be used to describe completed actions in the right context even with "for". For example, "I am about to leave my house in which I spent my childhood and say "I have been living/I have lived here for 20 years" or I am leaving my office and say "I have been working here/I have worked here for ten years."
For English: "I have been learning/studying/ English for two months. Now I am going to switch to another course". It would be interesting to know that if the present perfect doesn't work in questions ("How long have you learnt/studied English?"), does it work in statements? For example, "I have studied/learnt English for two months. Now I am going to switch to another course" to refer to an action which is completed as in previous examples. I am no longer living here, working here, or studying English.

That's a lot of questions for one post, Rachel!

Note that I have given your example sentences different letters so that I can refer to them more easily. C and D indicate the same thing - you are still working here. E and F indicate the same thing - you are still living here. A and B do not indicate the same thing. Using the present perfect in B simply expresses that at some point in your life, you spent two years (consecutively or in total) studying English.

I think you're missing the point that the continuous and the present perfect only indicate the same thing when used with some verbs. "Study" is one of the verbs that they don't mean the same for.

With your examples using "live" and "work", as you can see above, it's important to include the word "here". Saying "I'm still living" simply means "I am still alive", and "I'm still working" simply means "I still have a paid job".

If you were moving out of your childhood home imminently, and you're standing outside that house, you would say "I'm moving to a new house today. I lived here for twenty years! I'll really miss it" or similar. As you can see, the simple past suffices there.

The same goes for the day you leave a particular job - "I worked here for ten years and I loved every minute of it. I'll miss you all!"

For the context of changing to a new course, you could say "I've been studying English for the last two years but now I'm switching to a new course" at any point after you made the decision to change courses but before your last day on the English course. Once your last day is finished, you'd say "I've studied English for the last two years but tomorrow I start my French course".

I'm not sure you're going to be any clearer on the differences after this! Sometimes, the choice of tense is so obvious to a native speaker that we find it hard to explain why we use it.

In future, please ask just one question per post.
 

Rachel Adams

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I'm not sure you're going to be any clearer on the differences after this! Sometimes, the choice of tense is so obvious to a native speaker that we find it hard to explain why we use it.

In future, please ask just one question per post.

It's definitely very clear! Thank you so much!!!!

I think you're missing the point that the continuous and the present perfect only indicate the same thing when used with some verbs. "Study" is one of the verbs that they don't mean the same for.

Exactly! I made another mistake in my textbook which I understand now. "The builders have been building this house for 10 months." If I remember correctly the exercise asked to choose the tense which suggested that the action was ongoing.
I mistakenly chose the present perfect instead of the progressive.

If you were moving out of your childhood home imminently, and you're standing outside that house, you would say "I'm moving to a new house today. I lived here for twenty years! I'll really miss it" or similar. As you can see, the simple past suffices there.

The same goes for the day you leave a particular job - "I worked here for ten years and I loved every minute of it. I'll miss you all!

Regarding this explanation I also wanted to say if the progressive is used in such examples as "the ground is wet it has been raining" or "my hands are dirty. I have been gardening." I thought I could use the present perfect progressive when talking about moving out of my childhood house and leaving your job to refer to any action which has been in progress and has just finished.
 
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You cannot say [STRIKE]I have learned English for two months[/STRIKE]. "Learn" doesn't work there.
 
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