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Pleasehelp Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Lived

I've lived in England for awhile but that was a long time ago. What's wrong with this sentence?

I' lived in England for awhile but that was a long time ago.
  

Top answer

' 'I've lived in England for awhile' implies that you're still living there. When you add the last part of the sentence, it gets a little confusing.

— Jenness

  • ' 'I've lived in England for awhile' implies that you're still living there.
  • When you add the last part of the sentence, it gets a little confusing.
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3 Answers
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It should be: 'I lived in England...'

'I've lived in England for awhile' implies that you're still living there. When you add the last part of the sentence, it gets a little confusing.
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I agree. Your sentence would be better with the simple past tense (lived) because "I've lived in England for a while" would lead the listener to believe that you still live there now.

However, if you got rid of "for a while", then the present perfect (have lived) could work in the sentence.

The simple past tense works in any case since you are referring to the finished past.
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You will see some people write "for awhile" but it is, in my opinion, wrong: "awhile" by itself means "for a short time".

"for a while" is OK.
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