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Idiomatic present and imperfect with da

The present tense is idiomatically used with da in Italian to express the idea that an act or state that started in the past is still ongoing.

Studio da un’ora. — I have been studying for an hour.

or

È da un’ora che studio. — I have been studying for an hour.

Similarly, an action or state that started at some point in the past and was still going on at some later point in the past is expressed by the imperfect with da.

Studiavo da un’ora. — I had been studying for an hour.

or

Era da un’ora che studiavo. — I had been studying for an hour.

VOCABULARY