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I am wondering about the use of a since-phrase and the present progressive like the following:

How is he bearing up since the accident?

Normally, the since-phrase triggers the perfect aspect. Why is it not so in this case?

DO you think this interchangeability can be extended to "I am living here since 1995"?

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  • You could perfectly well ask "How has he been bearing up since the accident?"
    – Peter Shor
    Aug 4, 2017 at 16:18
  • Could you say "I am living here since 1998" in place of "I have been living here since 1998"?
    – Apollyon
    Aug 5, 2017 at 1:52
  • "How is he bearing up since the accident?" is acceptable. "I am living here since 1998" is not. By far the safest thing to do is to use a perfect aspect with since — you won't be wrong.
    – Peter Shor
    Aug 5, 2017 at 2:07
  • Do you know why one is right and the other is wrong?
    – Apollyon
    Aug 5, 2017 at 2:17
  • 2
    Good question. I'd like to see one of the close-voters suggest a reference covering 'situations where the present continuous may be used before since'. I think you've found a rare example; 'How is he doing since ...' works too. They're probably colloquialisms for the standard form 'How has he been doing ...?' (though the expression itself is colloquial).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Aug 6, 2017 at 15:23

1 Answer 1

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This example "how is he bearing up since the accident?" should be thought of as a question "How is he bearing up?" with an afterthought as a modifier "since the accident." As a single sentence -- especially in writing -- you would always use the perfect "How has he been bearing up since the accident?"

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