Il secolo scorso sembra lontano.

Italian usually uses a definite article where English often does not.

So il secolo scorso literally looks like the last century or the past century.

• il = the
• secolo = century

In English, you might sometimes say Last century seems far away without the, but in Italian the article is normally used here.

Secolo means century.

It is a masculine singular noun:

• il secolo = the century
• i secoli = the centuries

In this sentence, it refers to the 20th century when the speaker says il secolo scorso.

In Italian, scorso often comes after words referring to time:

• l'anno scorso = last year
• la settimana scorsa = last week
• il mese scorso = last month
• il secolo scorso = last century

That said, with some nouns you can also find the adjective before the noun, especially in more formal or literary styles. For example:

• lo scorso secolo

Both are possible, but il secolo scorso is very natural and common.

Literally, scorso comes from the verb scorrere, meaning to run, to flow, or to pass.

As an adjective in time expressions, scorso means:

• last
• past
• previous

So il secolo scorso means the last century or the previous century.

Sembra comes from sembrare, which means to seem.

So:

• sembra lontano = seems far away
• è lontano = is far away

The difference is important:

• è lontano sounds more direct and definite.
• sembra lontano suggests an impression or feeling: it feels distant, or appears distant.

In this sentence, the idea is that the last century feels remote, not necessarily that it is physically far away.

Sembra is the third person singular present tense of sembrare.

Conjugation in the present tense:

• io sembro = I seem
• tu sembri = you seem
• lui/lei sembra = he/she seems
• noi sembriamo = we seem
• voi sembrate = you all seem
• loro sembrano = they seem

Here the subject is il secolo scorso, which is singular, so the verb must be sembra.

Because lontano agrees with il secolo scorso, and secolo is masculine singular.

Agreement works like this:

• masculine singular: lontano
• feminine singular: lontana
• masculine plural: lontani
• feminine plural: lontane

So:

• Il secolo scorso sembra lontano.
• La scorsa settimana sembra lontana.

The adjective must match the noun it describes.

No. Lontano can mean both:

1. physically far

   • Roma è lontana. = Rome is far away.

2. figuratively distant

   • Quel periodo sembra lontano. = That period seems far away.
   • Il secolo scorso sembra lontano. = The last century seems distant.

In your sentence, it is clearly figurative: the last century feels remote in time or in spirit.

Because the sentence is not describing an action that happened in the past. It is describing a present impression about the past.

• sembra = seems now
• il secolo scorso = the thing being talked about

So the meaning is: Right now, the last century seems far away.

This is very natural in both Italian and English.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible:

• Il secolo scorso sembra lontano.
• Lo scorso secolo sembra lontano.

The second version puts scorso before the noun, which can sound a little more formal or stylistically marked, depending on context. The first version is very common and straightforward.

Also note the article:

• lo is used before scorso because scorso begins with s + consonant.

So you say:

• lo scorso secolo not
• il scorso secolo

They are very close in meaning.

Both can mean to seem:

• Il secolo scorso sembra lontano.
• Il secolo scorso pare lontano.

In many situations, they are interchangeable. However:

• sembrare is generally more common in everyday Italian
• parere can sound a bit more formal, literary, or regional depending on use

For a learner, sembrare is the safest and most useful verb to know first.

Scorso is pronounced roughly like SKOR-so.

Important detail:

• In Italian, sc before a, o, u is pronounced like sk
• But sc before e, i is pronounced like English sh

So:

• scorso = SKOR-so
• scena = SHE-na
• sci = shee

This is a very common pronunciation pattern in Italian.

Not necessarily. By itself, sembra lontano mainly suggests distance in time or a feeling of remoteness.

Depending on context, it could imply:

• a lot has changed
• the past feels very remote
• the world of that century feels different from today

But the sentence does not automatically mean that the century was unimportant or erased from memory. It just says it feels far away.