È morto il boss mafioso Matteo Messina Denaro

Preposizione DA o PER?
Preposition DA vs PER

“Per trent’anni ha vissuto nascosto in Sicilia”
(He lived in hiding in Sicily for thirty years)

In Italian, both the prepositions “da” and “per” can be used to talk about time, but they are used in different ways and convey different meanings. In summary, DA is used for starting points or origins of actions in time, PER is used for indicating durations or time spans.

1. DA = indicates the starting point

• • used to indicate starting points, origins, or the beginning of a time period;
  • used with present tense!

• Studio italiano DA due anni (I’ve been studying Italian FOR two years) = STILL ONGOING
• Gioca a calcio DA quando era bambino (He’s been playing football SINCE he was a child)

2. PER = indicates the time-span

• • used to indicate the duration of an action in the past, present or future;
  • used with all tenses!

• Ho studiato italiano PER due anni (I studied Italian FOR two years) = NOT ANYMORE
• Ha giocato a calcio PER molti anni quando era piccolo (He played football for many years when he was a child)