Present Perfect / Present Perfect Progressive

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Greece80  #52938  Sun, 31 Oct 04 04:51 PM
Hello everyone,

I have a question. What's the difference between this sentences?

1.) I have lived in Hanau since 2001.
2.) I have been living in Hanau since 2001.

Thanks in advance,
Dany
  
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Clive  #52967  Sun, 31 Oct 04 09:17 PM
Hi Dany,
Obviously, you have given no context with these sentences.
I can imagine some unusual contexts that would result in less common meanings.

However, in more usual contexts, both of these sentences mean that the speaker began living there in 2001 and still lives there.
By using the progressive or continuous tense, #2 emphasises the length of the time the speaker has been living there.

That's a short answer, but I hope it helps you.
Clive
  
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Greece80  #53105  Mon, 01 Nov 04 07:17 PM
Hello Clive,

in your explanation, both of these sentences mean the same.
So I have one question again.

Is the Present Perfect commutable with the Present Perfect Progressive and reverse?

Kind regards,
Dany
  
Clive  #53325  Wed, 03 Nov 04 12:36 AM
Hi again, Dany,
No, it depends on what you want me to understand. Here is a longer answer.
If you want to stress to me the length of the activity, use Present Perfect Progressive (PPP). If you don't want to, use Present Perfect Simple (PPS).
Also, the PPP is not used for activities that ended a long time ago, but instead for activities that have only recently finished or are still continuing now.

For example:
Sorry I'm late, I've been doing my homework.
compared to
I've done my homework, have you done yours?

I have visited China, have you? (I visited it in 1975)

So, if 3 years in Hanau since 1971 seems like a long time to you, use PPP. If not, use PPS.

I'm just trying to explain the basic principle to you. I hope you can read the details in your grammar book.

What do you think?
Clive
  
Greece80  #53460  Wed, 03 Nov 04 07:47 PM
Thanks for your explanation. I think, that I have understood now.
I was only irritatet, that both times have the same signal words.

Kind regards,
Dany
  
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