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I have doubts about the correct construction of these sentences, and I would like to know which of them sounds most native.

The context is: My friend told me that he is from Australia, and I know that his grandfather didn't live there, so it's interesting for me to know how long / how many years he lives there.

The options for the question are:

  1. How many years do you live there?

  2. How many years are you living there?

  3. How long are you living there?

  4. How long do you live there?

So in conclusion, I have two questions: The first one is about the correct tense (present simple vs present progressive) and the second one is about construction ("How long" vs "How many years")

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We would say, "how long have you lived there?" (present perfect; began in the past and continues)

Or, "how long has your family lived there?"

We might say "How many years have you lived here?" if the precise number of years were critically important, e.g., you are eligible for some benefit after living in a place for three years. But usually "how long" is the better option.

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