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For some verbs like 'live', where if you say "have lived" it means you lived somewhere for a period of time but that is not true anymore, and if you say "have been living" it means you still live in that place.

I know there are some verbs for which there is no difference in meaning when using the two tenses. What verbs are these?

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Two questions: What use would there be in knowing such verbs, and how do you know such verbs exist, if you don't know what they are? There is an intrinsic semantic difference between has ... and has been ...ing. – Daniel δ Dec 5 '11 at 19:32
@Daniel I don't know all of them. One example is "will have lived" / "will have been living". I want to know how to identify these verbs so I can do my homework. :P Actually, that's still the verb 'live', so I guess I'm asking how to identify the constructs where these two tense have the same meaning. – Paul Dec 5 '11 at 19:37
There is a difference in meaning between will have lived and will have been living, the same as the difference between have lived and have been living: have lived means "lived at some time in the past" and have been living means "lived from some time in the past until the present". – Daniel δ Dec 5 '11 at 19:38
@Danielδ "Come October we will have lived / will have been living here for two years." – Paul Dec 5 '11 at 19:39
There the meaning lived from some time in the past until now is based on context, not on the verb tense. When you say we have lived here, you do not necessarily mean we have been living here; but when you say we have lived here for two years, you always mean we have been living here for two years. – Daniel δ Dec 5 '11 at 19:41
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closed as too localized by Daniel δ, Monica Cellio, Barrie England, aedia λ, jwpat7 Dec 5 '11 at 22:58

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1 Answer

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Although there is a difference between have/has + past participle and have/has been ...+ing, there are two verbs that I know of and which can be used with both tenses without a difference in meaning. The one is live, as you have said in your question, the other is work. However, the best way to express that an action has duration until the present time is the tense with the -ing form.

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