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I want to say my friend was using a software since five years ago and he's still using the software, now which term is right :

  • My friend has been using a software for five years.
  • My friend had been using a software for five years.

or both are incorrect?

Mohsen Kamrani
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  • Both are ok. Context will decide which fits better. – Kinzle B Mar 23 '14 at 04:48
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    Recommended reading: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/13255/canonical-post-2-what-is-the-perfect-and-how-should-i-use-it – Damkerng T. Mar 23 '14 at 05:23
  • @DamkerngT.- Thanks, it should be a good page(chapter maybe) specially presented by Stony B. – Mohsen Kamrani Mar 23 '14 at 05:28
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    "since five years ago" is awkward. See for instance *[Proper usage of “since” and “from” with regard to duration of time](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1358/proper-usage-of-since-and-from-with-regard-to-duration-of-time/1399#1399)* and *[“I've been working here since two months ago”](http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/95062)*. Is should be "for the past five years" or "for five years". – Peter Mortensen Mar 23 '14 at 14:49
  • Also "a software" sounds strange". A specific software "the software" or "a particular software" would be OK. But "a software" is non-specific, so it is more natural to just say "software" if that is your intended meaning. – user3169 Mar 24 '14 at 05:47

1 Answers1

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If the action has not finished, the correct choice is has been using. The first sentence is okay.

You can make that first sentence more idiomatic by using ‘for’ instead of ‘since’: “My friend has been using the software for five years”, or “My friend has been using the software for the last five years.”

dato
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  • So I guess the other is correct if the action is finished for example today, I mean from 5 years ago up to today, right? – Mohsen Kamrani Mar 23 '14 at 05:00
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    The case of “finishing today” is tricky. You say “had been using” for something that was the case in the past: “My friend had been using software X for five years when he decided [last year, or last month] to switch to software Y.” Today, can it be really clear that your friend won’t use the software again? – dato Mar 23 '14 at 05:02
  • does it genuinely sound strange to a native speaker if someone mix 'has been' and 'had been' up in a relaxed conversation (as opposed to the commodity and frequency of a kind of conversation where it would irritate an academic level sensitivity toward purity)? – n611x007 Feb 06 '15 at 13:08
  • @n611x007: whether something's past-tense *can* be very important (*"Oh, you like Masa? He had been married for 5 years."* vs. *"... He has been married for five years"*), but isn't always particularly important (*"She has|had been using Dove body wash for 5 years - you could ask her if it's worth buying"* - either way she'll have an opinion on the product). – Tony Delroy Feb 25 '18 at 02:22