the present perfect

With the present perfect, how can we distinguish whether the action is finished or it continues up to the present - "he has painted the room", "He has lived here for...years"? Does it depend on the verb?

Does the sentence "I have lived in Australia for 10 years" mean the person still lives in Australia (now)?

For example, after living in Australia for 10 years a person moves on , and now permanently lives in a different place, not Australia. Would it be correct for that person to say "I have lived in Australia for 10 years" using the present perfect, if he /she doesn't actually live there anymore?

It does not necessarily carry that meaning. Neither does the Present Perfect Continuous - "I have been living in Australia for 10 years".

For the Present Perfect Continuous, it does, Contrex.[/b]
A Comprehensive English Grammar by ECKERSLEYS says so. The authors give us examples:

I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still teaching it).
He has been teaching English for six months.
The boys have been watching television since seven o'clock (...and are still watching now and will probably go on watching for some time).

oristarA wrote:

For the Present Perfect Continuous, it does, Contrex.[/b]
A Comprehensive English Grammar by ECKERSLEYS says so. The authors give us examples:

I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still teaching it).
He has been teaching English for six months.
The boys have been watching television since seven o'clock (...and are still watching now and will probably go on watching for some time).

It can have that meaning, (that the thing referred to has been continuous up till now and is still happening) but it does not have to; it can mean that the thing is recently over, thus one cannot invariably assume that it continues.

Imagine I am in England. I meet my old friend Jim, who is looking very tanned. I say to him: "Hey, Jim! I haven't seen you for years! You are very brown." He replies: "Hi, Contrex! I am tanned because I have been living in Australia for ten years. I have come back to England because my marriage failed. I live here now."

I think Jim has misused PPC tense. He'd had to use PP (I have ben in Australia...).

okay......
So, I left Australia very long ago and I don't live there now. Would it be more suitable to say "I lived in Australia for ten years" using past simple instead of "I have lived in Australia for ten years" using present perfect in this case?

For the Present Perfect Continuous, it does, Contrex.
A Comprehensive English Grammar by ECKERSLEYS says so. The authors give us examples:

1. I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still teaching it).
2. He has been teaching English for six months.
3. The boys have been watching television since seven o'clock (...and are still watching now and will probably go on watching for some time).

Quote:

For the Present Perfect Continuous, it does, Contrex.
A Comprehensive English Grammar by ECKERSLEYS says so. The authors give us examples:

1. I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still teaching it).
2. He has been teaching English for six months.
3. The boys have been watching television since seven o'clock (...and are still watching now and will probably go on watching for some time).

It's pretty silly to give examples where the PPC holds the meaning of ongoing as proof that it will always means that, Ori.

Who are these ECKERSLEYS? And their "comprehensive grammar"?

Let me give you an example using a variation of one of the given examples, number 3.;

3A. The boys have been watching television since they were five years old.

That's PPC but it would be silly to assume that they had been watching TV continuously since age 5 and even sillier to assume that they are now watching TV.

The logic employed here,

I have been teaching this class for two years (and am still teaching it).

is the same logic as,

Oristar is from China. He's an EFL. All EFLs who ask questions here are from China.

I have been teaching this class for two years.
He has been teaching English for six months.

Both these examples could describe situations that were finished.

Language school owner: You're fired!

Teacher: I've been teaching this class for two years and they love me. With me gone, you're gonna lose 40 or 50 students.

The PPC does NOT always mean the action at the time of speaking is ongoing.

Charles Ewart Eckersley (1892–1967) grew up in the North of England and attended Manchester University, where he gained an M.A. in English. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War I and later gained his first civilian job as a schoolmaster. He was appointed to the staff of the Polytechnic Boys’ School in Regent Street, London, in 1921 (Quinault 1967: 2). The school was associated with the Polytechnic Institute, which specialised in technical education and language teaching, and provided classes in English for foreigners. It was a frequent occurrence for Boys’ School masters to be asked to help with the Institute’s evening classes, and so it was that Eckersley gained his first experience of teaching English as a foreign language. T...more Charles Ewart Eckersley (1892–1967) grew up in the North of England and attended Manchester University, where he gained an M.A. in English. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War I and later gained his first civilian job as a schoolmaster. He was appointed to the staff of the Polytechnic Boys’ School in Regent Street, London, in 1921 (Quinault 1967: 2). The school was associated with the Polytechnic Institute, which specialised in technical education and language teaching, and provided classes in English for foreigners. It was a frequent occurrence for Boys’ School masters to be asked to help with the Institute’s evening classes, and so it was that Eckersley gained his first experience of teaching English as a foreign language. The methods used by a French master at the Boys’ School, H.O. Coleman (who was a friend of Harold Palmer’s), appear to have been particularly inspirational for Eckersley in his transition from teaching English as a mother tongue to English as a foreign language.(less)

I'm glad that for the first time in history you're fighting for Contex.

But A Comprehensive English Grammar was published by Longman Group Limited (London), the same publisher of your beloved LONGMAN GRAMMAR of SPOKEN and WRITTEN ENGLISH, JTT