all my/his/your life....

[subhajit123]

Hi everyone, I know we use present perfect tense with 'all my/his/your life' such as "I have done it all my life". But is there any situation where I can use "all my/his life" with simple past tense? Can I say "he did it all his life"?

 

[emsr2d2]

We can but the use of the simple past suggests that the subject is dead, so it wouldn't be possible to say "I did it all my life". The use of the present perfect means "all my/your/his life up to this point" but it makes no prediction about the future.

My grandfather used to love eating asparagus for breakfast. He did it all his life. (We infer from this that he is dead.)
My grandfather loves eating asparagus for breakfast. He has done it all his life. (He's alive and we only what he has eaten for breakfast until today.)