wǒ zài zhè gè chéngshì zhù le liù gè yuè le.

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Breakdown of wǒ zài zhè gè chéngshì zhù le liù gè yuè le.

• 这zhè: this
• 个gè: noun classifier

Questions & Answers about wǒ zài zhè gè chéngshì zhù le liù gè yuè le.

Why are there two 了 (le) in this sentence, and what does each one do?

Chinese teachers often call them verb 了 and sentence-final 了:

• The first 了 (right after 住) is verb 了.

  • Pattern: 住了六个月
  • It marks the completion/realization of a duration: “lived for six months (this stretch of time has been reached).”

• The second 了 at the end of the sentence is sentence-final 了.

  • Pattern: …六个月了。
  • It marks a change of situation / new state: “Now, as of this moment, it has (already) been six months.”

Together, 住了六个月了 means:

• “I have (already) lived in this city for six months (up to now, and I’m still here).”

Does this sentence mean I am still living in this city, or that I already left?

In normal contexts, 我在这个城市住了六个月了 strongly suggests:

• You started living here six months ago,
• And you are still living here now.

That sense of “up to now and still true” comes mainly from:

• The duration (六个月)
• Plus the sentence-final 了.

If you wanted to clearly say you used to live in this city for six months but don’t anymore, you’d usually say something like:

• 我以前在这个城市住了六个月。
  (“I used to live in this city for six months.”)

What is the difference between 我在这个城市住了六个月了 and 我在这个城市住了六个月 (without the last 了)?