Questions & Answers about Я давно читаю книгу.
Why is the present tense читаю used here if the English meaning is “I have been reading a book for a long time”?
Russian does not have a separate present perfect or present perfect continuous tense like English.
To express “have been doing something for some time”, Russian usually uses:
- Present tense of an imperfective verb (here: читаю)
- Plus an adverb of duration, like давно (for a long time), уже (already), etc.
So:
- Я давно читаю книгу.
= literally: I long-ago / for a long time read (am reading) a book.
= naturally: I’ve been reading a book for a long time.
The form is simple present, but the combination with давно gives it that “have been doing” meaning.
What exactly does давно mean here? Is it “a long time ago” or “for a long time”?