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Da pensionato, lui leggeva tutto il giorno.

Da pensionato, lui leggeva tutto il giorno.
As a pensioner, he read all day.
From Lesson 173:Roles and life stages (da)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Da pensionato, lui leggeva tutto il giorno.

Why do we use da here to mean "as a"?
In Italian, the preposition da is used to indicate a role, profession, or stage of life. When you want to say "as a [role]" or "when I was a [role]", you use da directly followed by the noun.
Why isn't there an article? Why not dal pensionato or da un pensionato?
When expressing a role or life stage, da is used without a definite or indefinite article. If you used dal pensionato, it would completely change the meaning to "at the pensioner's place" or "by the pensioner".
Could I say come pensionato instead?
While come can mean "like" or "as", using da is much more natural and common in Italian to express "in the capacity of" or "during the period of being". Come is generally used for comparisons, such as acting "like" a pensioner when you aren't one.
Why is leggeva in the imperfect tense rather than the passato prossimo?
The imperfect tense, leggeva, is used here because it describes a habitual, ongoing action in the past. Being a pensioner was a continuous state, and reading all day was his regular routine during that time.
Does tutto il giorno mean "every day"?
No, tutto il giorno translates exactly to "all day" (the entire duration of the day). If you wanted to say he read "every day", you would use the plural form: tutti i giorni.

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