“Da Quando” in Italian
Meaning
As simple as it is, the Italian expression da quando mean “since when”. It is an Italian adverb of time that is used to express the moment when something started.
Some other common expressions of time that you might know already are sempre (always), mai (never), ancora (still), già (already), and appena (just).
How to use
The Italian da quando is always followed by a verb. This verb can be conjugated either in the presente (present) or passato prossimo (present perfect), as I will show below:
- da quando + present indicative: to talk about an action or situation started in the past and continues in the present.
Da quando Lucia abita in Spagna, non mi telefona mai.
Since she’s been living in Spain, Lucia never calls me.
Here, Lucia moved to Spain in the past and still is living in the present, emphasizing the continuity of the action.
- da quando + present perfect: to talk about an action or situation that occurred just once in the past and has an effect on the present.
Da quando ho provato il gelato alla vaniglia, mangio sempre quello.
Since I tried vanilla ice-cream, I always eat that.
Here, I tried vanilla ice-cream just once in the past, and the verb tense emphasizes the completion or experience. This is a typical implicit meaning that is vehiculated by the Italian passato prossimo.
Learn more about the difference between passato prossimo and imperfetto in Italian.
Examples
Let’s now have a look at some more examples.
Da quando ci conosciamo Mattia non mi ha mai delusa.
Since we met, Mattia has never deceived me.
Non ci vediamo mai da quando ho iniziato l’università.
We haven’t seen each other since I started university.
Da quando ho smesso di fumare, mi sento molto meglio.
Since I quit smoking, I feel way better..
Da quando ho incontrato Alessandro, la mia vita è migliore.
Since I met Alessandro, my life is better.
Other Uses of “da”
As you might know already, in Italian we frequently use the preposition da to express time. It is typically translated in English with “since” or “for”.
This preposition is used very similarly to how we use the expression da quando, but the main difference is that it is not used with verbs, but with time only.
As a rule of thumb, I always tell my students that da is used with the present tense while per is used with the past tense, as you can see in the examples below:
Gioco a calcio da 1 anno.
I have been playing football for 1 year.
Meaning I started playing football one year ago and I still play it in the present.
Ho giocato a calcio per 1 anno.
I played football for 1 year.
Meaning I spent one year playing football somewhere in the past.
Da can also be used to indicate a definite point in time. In this case, we use imperfetto (imperfect) + a period of time.
Da bambina mi piaceva sciare.
As a child, I loved to ski.
Da piccoli non andavamo mai al mare.
We never went to the seaside when we were little.
