Da quanto

In Italian you will be using the term “da quanto” (how long) quite often. This video and article will show you  how you practice and use this word in day-to-day speaking. 

You will also find a link to a page where you can download a helpful PDF, so you can practice on your own.

You may be trying to ask a friend how long it will take them to get to your house, or maybe you're trying to ask a waiter how long it will take for your food to arrive.

Whatever the situation, learn to say HOW LONG with this video!

Download the FREE PDF of this lesson here!

In this lesson we will learn to say HOW LONG somebody has been doing something and we will use the words DA QUANTO.

So the formula that you need to study is for this lesson is:

da quando / da quanto tempo + present tense + rest of the sentence

Asking

So if you are living in Italian and somebody asks you “how long have you lived in Italy?” what will they say? well let’s use the formula:

Da quanto vivi in Italia? Da quanto tempo vivi in Italia? 

You can omit the “tempo” if you want and the meaning stays the same. If you use the word tempo you are simply giving extra emphasis that you are talking about a length of time.

• Da quanto tempo studi italiano?
  – How long have you been studying Italian for?
• Da quanto tempo lavori?
  – How long have you been working for?
• Da quanto tempo mi aspetti?
  – How long have you been waiting for?

Aswering

Now that you know how to ask the question let’s look at possible answers.

The formula to reply is present tense + da (meaning for) + a period of time. 

• Studio italiano da 2 mesi
  – I’ve been studying Italian for 2 months
• Lavoro da 10 anni
  – I’ve been working for ten years 
• Ti aspetto da 1 ora!
  – I’ve been waiting for you for an hour!
• Abito in Italia da 3 anni
  – I’ve been living in Italy for three years.

Please remember this structure and create some questions using this structure. 

Write them in the comments of the YouTube video! 

You can ask me a question and I will answer! 

I suggest NOT TO try to translate from English… because the structure changes in English and this can confuse you! 

Learn also the 4 most commonly used Italian question words with examples here.