Three sets of questions about verb tenses:

1) Can these two grammatical structures be used interchangeably?

       a- I have been living in France for five years.

       b- I have lived in France for five years.

**Is it right to assume verbs such as: live, work, study are the only type of verbs that can be mixed grammatically like the above sentences and still have the same meaning?

2) Why is Tom has flown over 300,000 miles during ten years acceptable, BUT Tom has been flying over 300,000 miles during ten years not acceptable?

3) Why is, I have been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day in Present Progressive, BUT I watched my neighbor dig a hole all day yesterday not in Past Progressive?

Matt0915 wrote:

3. Why is, I have been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day in Present Progressive, BUT I watched my neighbor dig a hole all day yesterday not in Past Progressive? I have been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day is Present Progressive because it states the neighbor is talking about the present day and it is progressive because he is watching, meaning that it is currently happening. Ex. if you say that you drove home from work then it can be assumed that you have already have gotten home. But if you say that you were driving home from work then that would mean you are currently doing that. I watched is not progressive, progressive end in -ing. therefore, the sentence isn't past progressive, but saying something like, I had been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day yesterday would be past progressive! Hope this helps!

 Matt,

I certainly can appreciate the difficulty in recognizing when and what tenses,  and voice to use within a given context.  This is a common hurdle ESL students have to overcome.  In your argument, you said “I had been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day yesterday would be past progressive!”.   It’s somewhat true but not entirely.  The key is “yesterday”.  Had the statement been “I had been watching my neighbor building their own swimming pool for the past 6 months and finally they are swimming in it”, then “had been” is properly used. 

In reference to the previous sentences:  “I have been watching my neighbor dig a hole all day “ The context suggests that the day was not over.  If this statement was made at 6 pm at the dinner table with your family, it’s entirely correct.   The logical explanation for the next sentence “I watched my neighbor dig a hole all day yesterday not in Past Progressive?” is that both acts of “watch” and “ dig” were completed yesterday.  The key is how the context was constructed.  You watched for as long as they digged and the actions were completed.  so a simple past tense is also correctly used. Unfortunately, the grammar rules live within the context which makes explaning rather difficult.