student asking question

Are "get [someone] living" and "get [someone] to live" different? Could you explain with an example?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

To "get someone living" and "get someone to live" have nearly the same meaning, but express slightly different tenses of the verb "live". "Live" is the simple present tense form of the verb, while "living" is continuous present tense. When using a verb in continuous present tense, it can often imply that the verb continues into the future up until a certain point. So in this case, "get someone living" has the same meaning as "get someone to live", but has the slight implication that someone will be living there less permanently. Ex: I live in France. Ex: I am living in France. In the examples above, "I live in France" suggests that the person permanently lives in France. The second example, however, implies that the person lived somewhere else besides France, and is living in France now temporarily.

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