Ongoing actions - significan lo mismo?

Question

OK, I'm trying to improve my understanding.

I originally learned to say something like: Vivo en esta ciudad desde hace 20 años.

We're now being taught a structure like: Hace 20 años que vivo En esta ciudad.

Are these just syntactically different or do they have different meanings?

Would my first one be wrong? I can see myself responding as in the first automatically since I've known it longer, but if its really wrong, I have only about 24 hours to rewire my brain before finals.

Thanks for any help..

Answer 1

Both sentences mean the same, but only if you add the word hace in the first sentence too.

Vivo en esta ciudad desde hace 20 años

Although I would use present perfect or the verb "tener", Tengo X años de vivir en esta ciudad, but it wouldn't sound so good if you interchange the order like in your example, in my opinion, so yours is better for your purpose. You really study alot, my friend.

actually, that is what i meant to write, but failed to notice the omission on this tiny phone screen. Ive fixed it now. Thanks again. - rogspax, Dec 11, 2012

Answer 2

I would change your first example to "Vivo en esta ciudad desde hace veinte años". Otherwise, they have the same meaning. Another option would be "Llevo 20 años viviendo en esta ciudad".

fixed, which was what i meant to write to begin with. Thanks! - rogspax, Dec 11, 2012