Question:
Is it better to say "I've been living in the U.S.A. for 5 years" than "I've
lived in the U.S.A. for 5 years"? Which one is grammatical? I have entered
both sentences at google.com's search machine. It turns out that the second
sentence occurs about 10 times more often than the first one. BUT, my
teacher says if you have a verb of activity, you should use the past perfect
continuous form.
Besides, what difference does it make whether using past perfect or past
perfect continuous?
Answer:
The Oxford Business English Grammar & Practice by Michael Duckworth says:
The present perfect continuous is used to talk about activities that started
happening in the past and are still happening now.
They have been producing cars for here for 10 years. (They started producing
cars 10 years ago and are still producing cars.)
However we normally use the present perfect simple with stative verbs or
about situations we consider permanent:
I have lived in London all my life. (NOT: have been living)
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