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Let's say you are watching a video about the lifestyle in a foreign land, and you are enjoying what you are seeing, now you want to live there for good. Can you say:

I think I'll enjoy LIVING there for good.

Or

I think I'll enjoy settling my life there for good.

Is this a correct word-choice to say permanently?, Because the "living" word here means only temporary right?, I just can't find the correct word for it...

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    'For good' means forever, permanently.
    – user60033
    Commented Dec 2, 2018 at 2:02

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"I think I would enjoy living there," or "I think I would enjoy living there for a while."

You probably would not make permanent plans based on watching a video.

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I gave an up-vote to @Kathleen K Bonner for noting the need to change "I'll" to "I would". 'Will' (or its contracted form) shows certainty something is going to happen. 'Would' should be used when something is still a hypothetical idea. See definition 2a in this M-W definition of 'would'.

I would prefer 'permanently' rather than 'for good'. The latter is a common enough idiomatic expression which means the same thing, but generally (if one exists) you should prefer to use a single word which has the precise literal meaning you need. 'Permanently' seems exactly right for this situation.

However, I doubt I'd use either of those. May I suggest something? Along with about 90% of speakers of English, one thing which would significantly improve the quality of your writing is to always ask this question first when you have a sentence which feels awkward: have I chosen the BEST verb for this sentence.

The beauty of English compared to most other languages is the huge variety of verbs it has which can convey subtle variations of meaning with just one word choice. I keep thesaurus.com permanently open in my browser when writing for that reason. If you can say exactly what you want with just one word, why not do so.

For your situation, I would choose one of the following:

  • I think I would enjoy living there.

  • I think I would enjoy retiring there.

  • I think I would enjoy settling there.

  • I think I would enjoy moving there.

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Assuming nobody lives forever, moving somewhere forever doesn't make a lot of sense to me. On the one hand, I agree with @Ross Murray about the myriad of verbs in the English language; It might be nice to use just one word to convey the meaning.

On the other hand, I do find his examples a bit problematic. Here's why:

  • "living there" and "moving there" do not convey the sense of a time period
  • "retiring there" might mean several other things that you did not intend (such as quitting your job)
  • "settling there" is closer to conveying that this transition is probably the last, but does not guarantee it

I would go for the much simpler: "I think I'd enjoy living there for the rest of my life".

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  • Hello there, thx for the insight. However, you've chosen "for the rest of my life" than my "for good" or "permanently"... could you please give me your thoughts on this.
    – John Arvin
    Commented Dec 5, 2018 at 13:43
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    Thanks, @eitanfar, for supporting the general principle I was trying to explain. I actually agree with you, and I did not choose a great example for what I wanted, because all of my examples are indeed "a bit problematic".
    – Ross Murray
    Commented Dec 5, 2018 at 15:04
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    @JohnArvin It might be a bit on the philosophical side, but I can't imagine someone living somewhere "permanently" or "forever", since no one lives forever to the best of my knowledge. That's why I believe "for the rest of my life" sounds more natural.
    – ethanfar
    Commented Dec 6, 2018 at 7:56
  • Oh I see, cheers!
    – John Arvin
    Commented Dec 6, 2018 at 9:13
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You can say something like

I think I'll enjoy living there for a while.

if it's not permanent.

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