The narrator has been living with her boyfriend in an apartment.
So you don't know when these 2 people started living together, but they still live together. Or does present perfect continuous require "for/since" in this case? Thanks in advance
-
Where would you put the "for/since" in the sentence? – Greybeard Mar 16 '20 at 10:48
-
@Greybeard At the end ("...in an apartment for two years.) However, Meiki, the point is that the situation is clear: the narrator is co-habiting and it doesn't matter how long for. I think this question would be better asked on our sister site. – Andrew Leach Mar 16 '20 at 10:54
-
OK, so is present perfect continuous correct in this case? – Meiki Mar 16 '20 at 10:57
This absolutely correct as it stands. You could add a "for"/"since" clause afterwards but it is not required.
However, we would only normally use the perfect continuous if we were going to add some other clause to it - that could be a "for"/"since" or several other options, like "but" (for example "but he is moving out next week" / "but they are trying to buy a house") or while ("while their mansion is being redecorated"). The sentence is perfectly correct without any of those clauses, but in that case we would normally say:
The narrator lives with her boyfriend in an apartment.
So with "has been living" there isn't a technical requirement for a qualifying clause ("for"/"since"/"but"/"while", etc.) but in common usage it would be unusual to use it without one.
-
It would be better make up another sentence with "for" clause, as it is what the asker has question with. – WXJ96163 Mar 16 '20 at 12:42
-
