How long/Since when
In today’s lesson, you’re going to learn how to ask how long/since when someone has been doing something.
You’ll also learn how to answer those questions. Let’s get started!
Questions
Let’s start with the questions. Here are some common expressions. They all mean “How long…?” or “Since when…?”.
- Da quanto tempo + verb..?
- Da quanto + verb..?
- Da quanto è che + verb..?
As you can see, you don’t always need the word “tempo” (time) since it’s pretty obvious you’re talking about time. The last option is more colloquial.
Here are some examples:
Da quanto tempo parli inglese?
Since when do you speak Italian?
Da quanto abiti in Spagna?
Since when do you live in Spain?
Da quanto è che siete insieme?
How long have you been together?
Answers
In English, we either answer with “since” or with “for”. In Italian, we just need the word “da” followed by either the amount of time OR the specific moment in time.
You’ll also notice, we use the present tense in both cases.
Let’s now have a look at some possible answers:
Parlo inglese da 3 anni. / Parlo inglese dal 2017.
I’ve spoken English for 3 years. / I’ve spoken English since 2017.
Abito in Spagna da un anno. / Abito in Spagna dall’anno scorso.
I’ve lived in Spain for a year. / I’ve lived in Spain since last year.
Siamo insieme da 5 anni. / Siamo insieme dal 2015.
We’ve been together for 5 years. / We’ve been together since 2015.
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