When talking about timelines, life milestones, or how long things take, Italian uses three key prepositions of time: da, per, and tra/fra. Your choice depends on whether the action is ongoing, completed, or happening in the future.
Ongoing actions with "da"
Use da for an action that started in the past and is still happening right now. In English, we usually use the present perfect ("have been doing" or "have lived") for this, but Italian simply uses the present tense.
Da can translate to either "for" (an amount of time) or "since" (a starting point).
| We have been waiting for the birth for a month. | Aspettiamo la nascita da un mese. |
| I have known him since childhood. | Lo conosco dall'infanzia. |
| I have been an adult for ten years. | Sono adulto da dieci anni. |
Completed durations with "per"
When an action lasted for a certain amount of time but is now completely finished, use per. It translates to "for" and is typically used with a past tense, like the passato prossimo.
| He waited for retirement for ten years. | Lui ha aspettato la pensione per dieci anni. |
| He worked here for his whole career. | Ha lavorato qui per tutta la sua carriera. |
| The marriage lasted for ten years. | Il matrimonio è durato per dieci anni. |
Future events with "tra" and "fra"
To express when something will happen in the future, use tra or fra. Both translate to "in" (as in "in a week" or "in an hour").
They are identical in meaning and completely interchangeable.
| The birth is in a month. | La nascita è tra un mese. |
| I am getting my degree in a week. | Prendo la laurea fra una settimana. |
| We are moving to France in three days. | Ci trasferiamo in Francia tra tre giorni. |
| The professor retires in two years. | Il professore va in pensione tra due anni. |
