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Does the sentence "I have been married for five years" mean that I am still married?

Andreas Brunner
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    Quick answer, "yes", although, as the other comments suggest, you really ought to add more to your question. – Andrew Oct 13 '16 at 22:07
  • @Andrew If you work quickly, you can still post an answer before the question is closed. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Oct 14 '16 at 00:29
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    This is not a duplicate because the other question stipulates a context using *since a specific date. This question uses for a certain number of years*. This creates a different grammatical context. – Alan Carmack Oct 14 '16 at 12:07

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No it doesn't necessarily mean that. The meaning has to be interpreted by such things as the speaker's intention and the context of the utterance.

To take a different example:

I've lived overseas for five years.

This does not necessarily mean that the speaker still lives overseas. It could mean that the speaker, over his lifetime, has lived overseas for a total of five years. The speaker could be replying to an advertisement that requires applicants to have lived overseas for (at least) five years. This has nothing to do with whether the applicant is currently living overseas.

The same with your sentence.

I have been married for five years.

What this sentence means has to be inferred from the speaker's intent and the context. Whether or not the speaker is still married is not determined solely by the use of the present perfect.

See also What's the difference between "has been living" and "has lived"?

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Alan Carmack
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