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Should we say:

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I've lived here for 10 months or, I've been living here for 10 months.

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Hello and welcome everyone, this is Minoo at Anglo-Link.

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Do 'I've lived' and 'I've been living' mean the same thing or are they different?

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The answer is a bit tricky.

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I have been doing and I have done.

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The rule I teach for I have been doing is action 
that continues from the past until now.

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For example:

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I've been reading reports for an hour.

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The rule I teach for I have done is an 
action completed before now.

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For example:

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I have already read two reports.

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Now, why do you think I have underlined 'action'?

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It's because I'm sure you know, there are two types of verbs in English.

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Action verbs and state verbs.

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Examples of action verbs are read, study, walk, etc.

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And state verbs are verbs like be, have, and know.

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The main difference is that with an action verb, 
you can start and stop easily.

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You can start reading, stop reading, start reading again.

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But, with a state verb, you can't do that.

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If you are tired, you are tired.

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If you know something, you know it.

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You can't easily unknow it.

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Now! There's a rule that you have to remember about state 
verbs.

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And that rule is that you can't put them in a continuous tense.

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You can't say:

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I have been having this car for two years.

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Despite the fact that the state of having this 
car continues, you cannot use that.

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You cannot use the Present Perfect Continuous tense.

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You have to use the Simple tense.

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Just Present Perfect.

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The correct sentence is:

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I have had this car for two years.

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And another example.

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The verb know.

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You can't say:

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We have been knowing each other for 15 years.

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You've got to change that back into its Simple form:

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We have known each other for 15 years.

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That brings us to the question:

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Is live a state verb or an action verb?

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What do you think?

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The answer is...

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it can be both.

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It depends on the context.

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That's why it's tricky.

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So, if you want to state a fact like:

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 I live in Paris,

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we use the Simple form:

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I live.

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Whereas, you can also use the verb 'live' to refer to a 
temporary situation.

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For example, you can say:

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I am currently living with my parents.

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Okay! Let's look at this in the Present Perfect tense:

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I live in Paris.

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A fact!

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So, I have lived in Paris for 10 months.

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I am currently living with my parents.

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Temporary situation at the present moment:

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I have been living with them for a week.

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So!

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The sentences I asked you about at the start of the lesson mean the same thing.

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There is no difference.

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If you say:

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I have been living here for 10 months,

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you're talking about an action that continues.

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If you say:

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I have lived here for 10 months,

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you're talking about a state that continues.

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So, it's up to you whether you want to refer to live as a 
state verb or as an action verb.

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Both are correct!

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These two sentences mean exactly the same thing.

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But!

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I'm sure you're asking me this very good question:

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Isn't 'I have lived' a completed action too?

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It's the Present Perfect. I have done.

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I just said have done refers to a completed action until now.

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And the answer is...

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Yes! It can be a completed action,

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if you're talking about your life experiences until now.

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For example,

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if you say:

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I have lived in several big cities.

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Or:

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I have lived in some horrible flats.

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These are completed actions.

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Completed experiences in your lifetime until now.

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And there are other verbs like this.

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These are verbs that can be an action or a fact.

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Some examples are:

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work, play, smoke.

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Let's look at some examples with work.

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If you say:

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I've worked for some big companies,

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you're referring to some life experiences until now.

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If you say:

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I have worked for this firm for five years,

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you're talking about a state, a fact that still continues.

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And if you're working on a report at the moment,

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then it's a temporary situation,

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you can say:

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I've been working on this report for a week.

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Now, this leads to some very common mistakes.

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The biggest one I hear a lot of my students make is saying things like this:

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I have lived in London for 10 months. Now, I live in Paris.

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Obviously, applying the rule that I have lived, I have 
done is an action completed in the past,

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makes this correct.

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But, as you can see it doesn't.

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It's confusing.

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So, do you live in London or do you live in Paris?

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So, remember once again that if you use 'have done' with the preposition 'for' 
and a length of time,

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you are always always talking about a state that continues.

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So, I have lived in London for 10 months means you still live in London.

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So, what tense should we use for this situation?

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Past Simple:

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I lived in London for 10 months.

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So, let's put all of that into a dialogue to make it crystal clear for you,

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because I know it's tricky.

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Here's a typical dialogue.

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You've just met someone.

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You ask them:

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Where do you live?

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You ask for a fact, right?

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Where do you live?

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And they say:

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I live in Paris.

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Now, you want to know how long.

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The better tense here is:

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How long have you lived in Paris?

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You're asking about this fact of their life.

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Rather than:

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How long have you been living in Paris?

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Although, you can say that, and it's not wrong.

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These two tenses are interchangeable.

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So, what is their answer?

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I've lived here for two years,

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is the most common answer.

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But, again, they can say:

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I've been living here for two years.

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Right! Let's continue this dialogue.

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Let's suppose you want to ask them about some of their life experiences.

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Now, you must use the Present Perfect Simple. Right?

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Actions completed in the past until now:

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Have you lived in any other cities?

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Yes! I've lived in Rome and London too.

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Is their answer.

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Now, you want to know how long they lived in London.

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You must use the Past Simple!

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Don't say:

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How long have you lived in London.

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They don't live there anymore.

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So, your question is:

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How long did you live in London.

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And the answer:

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I lived there for 10 months.

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Right!

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That's the end of this lesson.

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For lots more lessons and exercises, please check out my online course at

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Anglo-Link.com.

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And, if you want to brush up on your tenses, use this YouTube playlist.

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And please make sure to subscribe and allow notifications 
to know when my next lesson is online.

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Thanks a lot for watching, and I'll see you again very soon.