Forum Rocket Italian Italian Grammar Concerning "how long have you been...???"

Concerning "how long have you been...???"

tommaso

tommaso

Why does "how long HAVE YOU STUDIED Italian" translate as... da quanto tempo studi l' italiano... instead of... da quanto tempo hai studiato l'italiano? Isn't "studi" a present tense verb? Is there a rule somewhere I am missing??? Are both appropriate???
Maria-DiLorenzi

Maria-DiLorenzi

Hi Tommaso, if you want to ask how long something has been going on, in English you normally use the present perfect tense. For example: How long have you studied Italian? In Italian instead we use present tense. So you will say: Da quanto tempo + verb in the present Example: Da quanto tempo studi l'italiano? How long have you studied Italian? I hope this helps :)
mspringer

mspringer

When the action is assumed to still be going on (still studying) the present tense is used.

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