Эта традиция существует уже век.

This tradition has existed for a century already.

Breakdown of Эта традиция существует уже век.

• уже: already
• традиция: the tradition
• эта: this
• существовать: to exist

Questions & Answers about Эта традиция существует уже век.

Why is it эта традиция and not этот традиция?

Because традиция is a feminine singular noun, so the word for this has to agree with it.

• masculine: этот
• feminine: эта
• neuter: это
• plural: эти

So:

• эта традиция = this tradition

Here эта традиция is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

Why is the verb существует in the present tense? In English we would usually say has existed.

Russian often uses the present tense where English uses the present perfect.

So:

• Эта традиция существует уже век. literally = This tradition exists already a century natural English = This tradition has existed for a century

The idea is: the tradition began in the past and still exists now. Russian commonly expresses that with:

• a present-tense verb
• plus a word like уже
• plus a duration expression such as век, год, много лет

So this is completely normal Russian.

Why use существует instead of есть?