a question about tenses

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ESL forum > Ask for help > a question about tenses

a question about tenses

serenity light

a question about tenses

Hi, I �ve got a question:

If someone is asked to put the verb in brackets in the following sentence in the suitable form(or tense)

I ( live) in this town for seven years.

I think ( have lived) is the answer

But I want to make sure if other tenses like the past perfect or continuous tenses are also possible answers or not!

Thanks a lot for your help

20 Nov 2010

MarionG

Depends on where you are living now...

If you are no longer living there you would say; I have lived in this town for seven years. (but I no longer live there) Unless you add the word �now � because then it would again sound as if you still live there; I have lived in this town for seven years now (and I �ve never seen it so crowded)

If you still live there you would say: I have been living in this town for seven years (and I still don �t know where the postoffice is)

At least that sounds right to me.. I only teach primary so I never bothered finding out how these tenses are called.. :)

20 Nov 2010

Gia Mel

I agree with Marion... If I had seen that excercise in a test, I �d have put " I �ve been living in this town for seven years " because it says "this" town, not "that" town. This implies that the town is important for the speaker...

Just a thought!

Gia.

20 Nov 2010

Gia Mel

And I believe that the tense is called present perfect progressive (or continuous)...

20 Nov 2010

serenity light

thanks a lot for your answers

I know that we can use ( for ) with perfect tenses according to the situation

..but if ( this town ) is replaced with any other word like a name of city for example,,and no more information added ,,can we say ( am living ) ,, ( was living ) ,, ( had lived) ?

I ( am living ) in Paris for seven years. ( like when talking about a future plan)

( was living ) : ( to express an action that continued for a while in the past but it ended)

( had lived) : ( ( to talk about the duration of the action that happened earlier in time)

which of the previous are possible ..if any???

20 Nov 2010

Gia Mel

I guess in spoken language all of them may be possible, but "I �m living in Paris for seven years" and "I was living in Paris for seven years" sound strange to me...

I�d say: I�ve been living in Paris for seven years (If I still live there) or I had lived in Paris for seven years (If I no longer live here)

See you!

20 Nov 2010

MoodyMoody

As an American, I have no problem with "I have lived in the USA for [mumble, mumble] years," meaning that I still live here. "I have been living in the USA for [mumble, mumble] years" is also okay. I would use simple past, past perfect, or past perfect continuous to talk about a condition that no longer exists, i.e. "I worked as a cashier [mumble] years ago," "I had worked as a dishwasher before I worked as a cashier," "I had been working as a library assistant when I met my husband."

20 Nov 2010

ldthemagicman

Dear Serenity Light,

Here is my opinion for the sentences (as written by you). I live in the United Kingdom.

�I live in this town for seven years�. Present Simple � NOT POSSIBLE.

�I live in this town (it is a fact)�. Possible.

�I am living in this town for seven years�. Present Progressive � NOT POSSIBLE.

�I am living in this town at present, (temporarily)�. Possible.

�I lived in this town for seven years, (but I don�t live here now)�. Past Simple � Possible.

�I was living in this town for seven years, (until I moved to London, so I don�t live here now)�. Past Progressive � Possible.

�I have lived in this town for seven years (and I still live here)�. Present Perfect � Possible.

�I had lived in this town for seven years�. Past Perfect - NOT POSSIBLE without more information.

�I had lived in this town for seven years (and then I married my wife)�. Possible.

�I have been living in this town for seven years (and I am still living here)�. Present Perfect Continuous - Possible.

�I will live in this town for seven years (and then I will do something different)�. Future Simple � Possible.

�I would live in this town for seven years�. Future Conditional - NOT POSSIBLE without more information.

�I would live in this town for seven years (if I had the opportunity)�. Possible

I have underlined what I think is the probable correct answer.

I hope that this helps you.

Les

20 Nov 2010

serenity light

that �s very clear

I appreciate your help

many thanks to you all

20 Nov 2010