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Abito qui da un secolo!

Abito qui da un secolo!
I have lived here for a century!
From Lesson 99:Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Abito qui da un secolo!

The English translation says "for a century", so why does the Italian use da instead of per?
In Italian, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use da. You use per for completed durations, like if you lived somewhere for a year but then moved. Because you are still living here, da is the correct preposition.
Why is abito in the present tense when the English says "have lived"?
Because the action of living here is still ongoing! English uses the present perfect ("have lived") for this, but Italian simply uses the present tense (abito) combined with da. You are literally saying "I live here since a century ago."
Could I use the verb vivere instead of abitare here?
Yes, vivo qui da un secolo is also perfectly natural. Abitare specifically means to reside in a physical place (like a house or city), while vivere is broader and means "to live" in a general sense. When talking about where you live, they are mostly interchangeable.
Is un secolo a common idiom, or just a literal century?
It literally translates to "a century", but Italians use this exact phrase as a dramatic exaggeration. It is just like an English speaker saying "I've been waiting for a century" or "for ages" to simply mean a very long time.

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