I've been living in Berlin vs. I've lived in Berlin

[Guarana]

can you explain me what is the difference between:

I've been living in Berlin for 4 years

and

I've lived in Berlin for 4 years

Why does one need present perfect continuous tense? they seem same to me.

tank you
Guarana

[Alan]

Hi,

The first tense is called the Present Perfect Continuous (have been living) and it means I have lived there for 4 years and I'm going to live there in the future/I am going to continue living there.
The second tense is called the Present Perfect Simple (have lived) and simply means from then till now I have lived there for 4 years and it doesn't indicate whether I intend to go on living there.

Let's put that in a sentence: Charlie has worked in this section for 10 years and now he is moving to another department of the company and in total he has been working for the company for 15 years.

Hope this helps

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Your Choice