EnglishClub ESL Forums

When someone says:
- He has lived in Bangkok.

If that's the only thing the guy have said, does it always mean he doesn't leave Bangkok anymore? Or we really need to have more context so we can tell?

I have lived in Bosnia for 50 years.

It's a statement which gives the fact. No any other information about.

He wrote a lot of books. He's probably dead.
He has written a lot of books till now. He still write books.

Where has he lived till now?
He has lived in Bangkok.

I have lived in Bosnia for 50 years.

By "no other information about" Tukanja, does it also include not stating whether "he" still lives in Bosnia or not anymore? So if we see sentence like this, we just have to know the fact that he lived in Bosnia - and whether he still lives there or not is something we don't know about(neither it's important to know about).

Did I understand it correct?

In my opinion;
Yes you have.

How long have you lived in Bosnia?
For 50 years.
When you left the country? (both of the people are in Germany for example)
5 years ago.


How long have you lived in Bosnia? (both of the people are in Bosnia)
For 50 years.
Are you about to leave?
No.

Waaaaaaa, finally it's starting to be clear. The p.p. has confused me big time this entire week.

Though, I am still going to keep on study this.

Thanks again Tukanja!

Aikuzo wrote:When someone says: - He has lived in Bangkok.

When someone say: I have lived / or been living in Bangkok.

It means that this person has recently left Bangkok.

But if you reveal the period of time: I have lived / or been living in Bangkok for 50 years.

Then it means that the person still lives in Bangkok.

----

If you just state the fact of living in Bangkok, you say: I live in Bangkok.
If you want to tell somebody how long have lived there, you say: I have lived/ been living in Bangkok for .... years/ month/ etc.

Xkalibur wrote:When someone say: I have lived / or been living in Bangkok.

It means that this person has recently left Bangkok.

But if you reveal the period of time: I have lived / or been living in Bangkok for 50 years.

Then it means that the person still lives in Bangkok.

Are these patterns work on all verbs as well?

- I have taught/been teaching philosophy. (means he might teach it again in the future but he's not teaching it now.)
- I have taught philosophy for 10 years. (He recently teach it but he's not teaching it now, but there's a possibility that he might teach it again in the future.)
- I've been teaching philosophy for 10 years. (He's teaching it now and he will continue teaching it.)

Aikuzo wrote:
Are these patterns work on all verbs as well?

- I have taught philosophy for 10 years. (He recently teach (taught ) it but he's not teaching it now, but there's a possibility that he might teach it again in the future.)

1. I have taught philosophy for 10 years. OR - I have taught philosophy since 1999.

He is not teaching at the moment of speaking (if he did, he would use Present Continuous). The structure of the sentence #1 is used to express continuous action which started in the past and is being committed in the present time. Here the emphasis is on the fact.

2. I have been teaching philosophy for 10 years. OR - I have teaching philosophy since 1999.

Here the meaning of this sentence is the same as in #1, but the emphasis is on the duration.

Xkalibur wrote:Here the emphasis is on the fact.

Here the meaning of this sentence is the same as in #1, but the emphasis is on the duration.

I knew it, :) hey thanks Xkalibur!

- I have worked on that company for 10 years. (Just stating the fact, no biggie. xD)
- I've been working on that company for 10 years. Just ask me what you need to know about it. (Emphasis on the "duration" to proved that he really knew a lot about that company.)

You guys must be proud of me. Just kidding haha!

Aikuzo wrote: - I have worked on that company for 10 years.
- I've been working on that company for 10 years.

I've worked for that company for ten years.
I am not sure the Present Perfect always means the action's stopped if there is no any of non-definite adverbs of time in the sentence like Xkalibur have said. (if I understood properly)

Look at this

Two friends run into each other
How have you been?
Fine. (I have been fine) Does it mean that I am not fine anymore?!



I have been working for that company for ten years can mean that I do know a lot about the company. It depends on the context.

How do you know such things about the company?
I've been working for ten years for them.

Does it mean I am still working for the company? Not for me. Sorry.
One might say,' I worked for the company for ten years', what means that he doesn't work for them any more because he has used the Simple Past Tense . But that isn't correct usage of the Simple Past Tense because there is no definite adverb of time used with the Simple Past.

Either I am still working for them or not I would say
I have worked for the company for ten years.
I have been working for the company for ten years.
Which form would I use depends on the context. Actually depends on what I want to emphasize.

Also it doesn't always mean that the action described using the Present Perfect Continuous Tense is always going to continue.

look at this

Two friends run into each other
Hey I've been waiting on you for whole hour!
Does it mean I am still going to wait on him even though he has arrived?

On the other side

Hey what have you been doing here?
I've been waiting on George (for an hour) but he still hasn't come!

Tukanja wrote:I have lived in Bosnia for 50 years.

It's a statement which gives the fact. No any other information about.

He wrote a lot of books. He's probably dead.
He has written a lot of books till now. He still write books.

Where has he lived till now?
He has lived in Bangkok.

Now I think I shouldn't have said this in red.
There must be a context which precedes the sentence He wrote a lot of books.
I have known him.
He died two years ago.
He had written a lot of books.

I think that He wrote a lot of books is also possible in case of narrating I mean using more than one sentence.

At this moment He has written a lot of books. doesn't mean for me that he is still writing books.
I actually know nothing about whether he is still writing books or not.

It might be concluded from the sentence He has been writing a lot of books recently that he will continue writing books for some time.

It seems that I'm really having a "feel" on the ins and outs of perfect present now. Just like the advice that was given to me before - there's no easy way on present perfect, each of them has to be analyzed individually base on verb type, context, other words in the sentence etc.

Thanks for all your time guys! :)