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Ask for help > Help with the sentence
Help with the sentence
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FrauSue
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No need to fight! The sentences are both correct (I am a UK native speaker) but nasreddine �s comments are interesting.
1. I live in Los Angeles now, working as a film director.
The "working as a film director" acts as a kind of participial adjectival phrase. Compare it with "I can see the children playing in the garden" or "He �s very fit, running up to 5 miles every day.". An alternative would be "I live in LA now, where I am working as a film director." The use of the present continuous suggests that the work is happening right now but that it may be temporary (i.e. the speaker may not consider it their "career for life" at the moment). You could also say "I live in LA now, where I work as a film director."
2. Are you still living in London?
We use the present continuous in this case to express the fact that this "living in London" phase was or is a temporary one. "Do you still live in London" is equally acceptable, but both are correct. The emphasis changes from temporary to permanent depending on whether we choose the present continuous or present simple with the verb "to live". Have a look at the example: "Lions usually live in Africa. But there �s a lion living in my garden in Birmingham and I want it to leave!" In this example, we must use present simple in the first sentence (it �s a statement of fact) and we must use present continuous in the second example because we are expressing the fact that we hope this is only a temporary phenomenon.
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5 Jun 2014
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gordana44
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Thank you very much for your replies. I really appreciate your comments.
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5 Jun 2014
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yanogator
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@nasreddine, Using all capital letters on the internet is generally interpreted as shouting. Since (I now know) you just wanted to emphasize certain words, using the Italic font option would have worked well. It �s all behind us now, and I certainly accept your apology. Bruce  |
5 Jun 2014
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