Learn English – Dilemma: Present Perfect Or Perfect Continuous

present-perfectpresent-perfect-progressive

I am very much confused with two aspects which are perfect aspect and present perfect continuous.

From the sentences below I am not sure what to use..

Perfect aspect:

I've lived here for ten years.

Perfect Continuous aspect:

I've been living here for ten years.

Best Answer

To my American ear, in your examples, there is absolutely no difference between the two forms, which, in fact, give the same information. This is possible with the verb "live" because it's a dynamic verb that lends itself to either a continuous or a perfect interpretation. This would be true of any such verb which designates ongoing action, as opposed to resultative verbs, where the perfect would express the result or completion of the action:

I've been dating her for ten months.

I've dated her for ten months.

In the southern states, you sometimes hear "know" used like this in reference to people:

How long have you been knowing him? (=southern)

How long have you known him?

With resultative verbs, there would be two different interpretations:

I've been planning this event for five years. (=started five years ago and still planning it)

I've planned this event for five years. (=every year, the same yearly event)

Related Topic