How to answer “How long have you lived here?” after moving away and returning

Consider these answers to a neighbour:

• “I've lived here for eight months.”
• “I've lived here since January.”
• “I lived here for eight months when I was a student.”

The first two describe a stay continuing now. The third describes an earlier, finished stay. The word for does not by itself tell someone whether you still live there.

The BBC's How long lesson contrasts questions about current and former homes. It also distinguishes for with a length of time from since with a starting point. In your own answer, decide which stay you mean before adding its length or starting date.

You can then choose a short form that fits: “For eight months” or “Since January.” Both can answer “How long have you lived here?” You do not have to change the question to use since.

Imagine this fictional history. The conversation takes place on 1 September 2026, and each move happened at the beginning of the stated month:

Period	Where Lina lived
September 2018 to September 2021	Halifax
September 2021 to March 2026	Ottawa
March 2026 to the conversation date	Halifax again

Lina is talking to a new Halifax neighbour. She could say:

“I've been back for six months. I lived here for three years before moving to Ottawa.”

Or, using the starting point of her current stay:

“I've been back since March. This is my second time living here.”

“I've lived here since September 2018” would be a poor answer for this history if Lina leaves it unexplained. A listener could reasonably understand that she stayed throughout the period. It also hides why she might know older shops but be unfamiliar with recent changes.

If the neighbour asks about the total, Lina can answer: “About three and a half years altogether, across two separate stays.” That total is different from how long she has been back.

Here is how the exchange might continue:

Neighbour: “How long have you lived around here?”

Lina: “I've been back since March. I lived here for three years before that, but I spent several years in Ottawa in between.”

Neighbour: “So you probably remember the old market?”

Lina: “Yes, I used to go there. I haven't visited the new one yet.”

Lina gives enough history for the neighbour's question, then follows the topic they introduce. She does not need to list every move or calculate an exact lifetime total.

If someone instead asks “When did you move back?”, answer that event directly: “I moved back in March.” The British Council's present-perfect guide distinguishes an ongoing state from an event placed in a finished past time. That is the difference between describing your current stay and naming when the move happened.

For a longer account of a move, the short past-story exercise helps you put events in order. The neighbour's first question, though, may need only two sentences.

You might have lived in a country for ten years, a city for two years and your current building for a month. All three numbers could be true. They answer different questions.

If the setting does not make the meaning clear, ask: “Do you mean in this building or in the city?” Then answer the intended question.

You can also make the distinction in your reply: “I've lived in Calgary for two years, but I only moved into this building last month.” This avoids presenting a recent change of address as your first arrival in the city.

Keep personal detail at the level you want to share. “I've been back for a little while” is a possible conversational answer if you prefer not to explain previous moves. An informal introduction is not a requirement to give someone a full personal history.

Use Lina's fictional history above. Cover the sample answers and explain her connection to Halifax in no more than three sentences. A partner should listen without looking at the table.

Ask them to write down:

1. Where Lina lives now.
2. When the current stay began.
3. Whether she lived there continuously from 2018 onward.

The answers are Halifax, March 2026, and no. If the third answer is wrong, check whether you left out the Ottawa period or used one since phrase for the whole history. Repair that detail rather than making the entire answer longer.

Now change one fact: Lina never left Halifax in 2021. How would the answer change? On the same fictional conversation date, she could say, “I've lived here for eight years” or “I've lived here since September 2018.” “I've been back” would no longer fit that version because there was no return.

For a final round, use a different fictional person who lived in Halifax for three years but now lives in Ottawa. Ask “How long did they live in Halifax?” The answer concerns a finished stay. Do not keep the current-residence question simply because the place name stayed the same.

This is an original speaking exercise. Its check is whether a listener reconstructs the intended history, not a claim that one drill produces a particular level of fluency.