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How long _______ there? (work/you)

Which tense to use. A) Present Perfect Simple, or B) Present Perfect Progressive?

A) How long have you worked there?
B) How long have you been working there?

Chstavridis
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  • You need to provide some argument of your own. Also, this question has been answered tons of times here. – Lambie Jun 26 '22 at 17:18

2 Answers2

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You can use either of the sentences, but meanings will be different

How long have you worked there?

This sentence implies you are asking somebody a question who has quit his job that he did there(at some place)

How long have you been working there?

This sentence implies you are asking somebody a question who is still doing his job that he does there(at some place)

Kshitij Singh
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  • If the statement was "You work for the bank, right? How long _____ there? (work/you)"? – Chstavridis Mar 19 '19 at 20:05
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    How long have you been working would be correct, because you still work with the bank. – Kshitij Singh Mar 19 '19 at 20:07
  • @KshitijSingh should how long have you worked there? necessarily imply that I've quit the job? – Andrew Tobilko Mar 19 '19 at 20:45
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    Too bad this answer has been accepted. As @AndrewT mentions, it gives erroneous guidance. Jed: Where do you work? Ted: I work at the bank. Jed: How long have you worked there? My guess is that Ted would say, “Ten years,” not, “Learn some better grammar. I still work there.” Moreover, if I knew someone had quit their job, my question would be: How long had you worked there? – J.R. Mar 20 '19 at 09:51
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    "How long did you work there?" is also possible if someone doesn't work there anymore. – anouk Dec 25 '19 at 16:25
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In the context you added in a comment, they mean exactly the same thing. I would prefer the shorter and simpler one as a general rule, but that is just personal style.

StephenS
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