When we meet people, we often ask about their home town or the place they live in. Here are a few questions you can ask. Sample answers are also given.

• ‘Where are you from?’‘I’m from Tamil Nadu.’
• ‘What part of Tamil Nadu do you come from?’‘I’m from Chennai.’
• ‘Have you heard of my home town?’ ‘Yes, I’ve heard of your home town but I haven’t been there.’
• ‘Do you know my home town?’ ‘Yes, I know your home town.’ (= I’ve been there.)
• ‘Where do you live?’‘I live in Singapore.’
• ‘Why did you come to Singapore?’ ‘I came here to work.’ / ‘I came here to study.’
• ‘How long have you lived here?’ ‘I’ve just arrived.’
• ‘Where do your brothers live?’ ‘They live in California.’
• ‘How long have they lived in California?’ ‘They’ve lived there for ten years.’
• ‘Where do your parents live?’ ‘My parents live in Malaysia.’
• ‘How long have they lived in Malaysia?’ ‘They’ve lived all their life in Malaysia.’
• ‘Where does your sister live?’ ‘She lives in Bangalore.’
• ‘How long has she lived in Bangalore?’ ‘She’s lived there since year 2000.’
• ‘How long have you been living here?’ ‘I’ve been living here since year 2002.’ / ‘I’ve been living here for 11 years.’

Notes

The sentence ‘I’ve lived here for 20 years.’ means the same as the sentence ‘I’ve been living here for 20 years.’Both forms are used to talk about situations that started in the past and have continued up to the present.