Мы давно дружим.

we

Breakdown of Мы давно дружим.

• давно: for a long time
• дружить: to be friends

Questions & Answers about Мы давно дружим.

Why is the verb дружим in the present tense when the English meaning is “We have been friends (for a long time)”?

Russian doesn’t have a separate present perfect tense like English (have been, have done etc.).

To express an action that started in the past and continues now, Russian very often uses:

• Present tense of an imperfective verb +
• a time adverb like давно, уже, давно уже, много лет etc.

So:

• Мы давно дружим.
  Literally: We long-ago / for a long time are-friends.
  Naturally in English: We have been friends for a long time.

Other similar patterns:

• Я давно его знаю. – I’ve known him for a long time.
• Он уже два года здесь живёт. – He’s been living here for two years.

So дружим is grammatically simple present in Russian, but in context it covers the English idea of “have been friends (for some time and still are)”.

What exactly does давно mean here, and how is it different from долго?