Этот проект разрабатывается уже два года.
This project has already been in development for two years.
Breakdown of Этот проект разрабатывается уже два года.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
два
two
год
year
уже
already
Questions & Answers about Этот проект разрабатывается уже два года.
Why do we use the reflexive verb разрабатывается here instead of a passive participle?
The reflexive suffix -ся is the standard way to form the passive voice for ongoing processes using the imperfective aspect. Short passive participles are almost exclusively used for completed actions (perfective aspect). Since the project is still being developed, we use the imperfective reflexive verb.
Is using разрабатывается like this considered formal or conversational?
Using reflexive verbs for the passive voice (like проект разрабатывается) sounds a bit formal, objective, or journalistic, which perfectly fits the context of business or project management. In very casual speech, Russians often prefer an active sentence with an unspecified "they" subject, such as они разрабатывают этот проект.
The English translation says "has been in development", so why is the Russian verb in the present tense?
In Russian, if an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you must use the present tense. English uses the Present Perfect Continuous for this, which is a very common trap for English speakers.
Why isn't there a preposition to mean "for" in the phrase уже два года?
To state how long an ongoing action has been happening, Russian simply uses the time phrase in the accusative case with no preposition. Adding a preposition like за would change the meaning entirely, implying the time it takes to finish a completed action.