ITE-SPACE: normal; WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-TOP: 0px; FONT: 14px/23px 宋体; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; MARGIN: 10px 0px; LETTER-SPACING: normal; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-INDENT: 2em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">In Italian, to express an action that began in the past and is still going on in the present, use the verb in the present tense + da + length of time. This construction does not exist in English, where you would use the present perfect tense. Here are a few examples:

Leggo questo libro da una settimana. (I’ve been reading this book for a week.)

Prendiamo lezioni di italiano da molti mesi. (We’ve been taking Italian lessons for many months.)

To ask how long something has been going on, use da quanto tempo + present-tense verb:

Da quanto tempo leggi questa rivista? (How long have you been reading this magazine?)

Leggo questa rivista da molto tempo. (I’ve been reading this magazine for a long time.)