Italian: Present Continuous Tense
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The present continuous tense in Italian
The present simple tense in Italian can mean both ”I do” and “I am doing”. But there is also a present continuous or progressive form, equivalent to English “I am ….ing”:
To form this tense you use:
the present tense of stare [not essere]
sto
stai
sta
stiamo
state
stanno
plus
the present participle, sometimes called the gerund. Grammaticians argue about the term “gerund” so we will call it the present participle. You form it like this:
– are verbs
camminare –-> camminando
– ere verbs
vendere –-> vendendo
– ire verbs
finire –-> finendo
There are some irregular forms:
fare [to do / make] – facendo
dire [to say] – dicendo
bere [to drink] – bevendo
The present participle does not agree [ie., there are no feminine or plural forms].
We use this tense to express what someone is in the process of doing at this moment:
Cosa stai facendo? – What are you doing?
Sto lavorando – I’m working
Sta dormendo – He is sleeping
Stiamo finendo ora ! – We’re finishing now!
Note that we cannot use this tense to express the future in the way that we use the present continuous in English. [“ I’m holidaying in France next year.”]
This tense is used less than the present continuous in English and if you are in doubt, we advise you to use the present simple tense. But you will hear people use this form.
Now you try: Put the verbs in brackets into the present participle form:
ria sta [scrivere] ____________ una lettera.
Stiamo [guardare] ____________ il telegiornale.
Sto [aspettare] ____________ il treno.
Cosa stai [leggere] ____________?
I ragazzi stanno [partire] ____________ ora.
Now put the correct form of the present tense of stare in the gaps:
Giovanni ______ mangiando.
Io ____ finendo il lavoro.
I bambini ______ dormendo.
Cosa _______ facendo, ragazzi?
Dove _____ andando, Maria? [tu form]
Il gerundio (the gerund) refers to the use of a verb in its –ing form. For example ‘I am writing’, I was thinking, he is talking, etc. In Italian il gerundio (the gerund) is characterised by the following endings:
Verbs ending in –are = ando e.g. mangiando (eating) from the verb mangiare (to eat)
Verbs ending in –ere and –ire = endo e.g. cuocendo (cooking) from the verb cuocere (to cook), pulendo (cleaning) from the verb pulire (to clean).
Now let’s look at the most common uses of il gerundio in Italian:
1. Presente Continuato (Present Continuous)
The gerund is used with the present tense of verb stare (to be/to stay) to form the present continuous:
stiamo mangiando = we are eating
Giovanni sta riposando = Giovanni is resting
cosa state facendo? = what are you doing? (you plural)
stai lavorando? = are you working? (you singular, informal)
sto pulendo le finestre = I’m cleaning the windows
le patate stanno cuocendo = the potatoes are cooking
N.B. The present continuous is not considered an official Italian tense, and when I was a child we were not allowed to use it in writing, we had to use the simple present instead. Nowadays the present continuous is interchangeable with the simple present to describe what is happening in this exact moment, e.g.:
cosa state facendo or cosa fate? = what are you doing? (literally: what do you do?)
stai lavorando? or lavori? = are you working? (literally: you work?)
sto pulendo le finestre or pulisco le finestre = I’m cleaning the windows (literally: I clean the windows)
Note that this tense form is used less frequently in Italian than in English. It’s normal to hear the simple present used instead of the progressive form we’re studying here. For example: “Vado, ciao!” (“I’m going, bye!”) rather than “Sto andando, ciao!”, which would sound rather fussy. Nevertheless, the progressive present form is used to specify/emphasise that an action that is taking place at the time of speaking, for example: Lisa sta leggendo. I bambini stanno giocando. Sto facendo la fila. The tense form is constructed using the verb ‘stare’ as an auxiliary, along with the present participle (gerundio) form of the base verb. ‘Stare’ conjugates like this: io sto tu stai lui/lei sta noi stiamo voi state loro stanno And what about the present participle? No worries. As in English, it’s easy. Verbs ending in -are form the present participle by adding the suffix -ando to the root of the verb. For example: lavorare-lavorando giocare-giocando guidare-guidando Verbs ending in -ere/-ire form the present participle by adding the suffix -endo to the root of the verb, as in these examples: leggere-leggendo tenere-tenendo venire-venendo dormire-dormendo The following three verbs are the only irregular ones: fare-facendo dire-dicendo bere-bevendo]]>
Present Tense
The present tense in Italian is essentially the same as in English. The only difference is that it can also be used as the present continuous, so “I do” and “I am doing” are conjugated the same way. The English present continuous, however, is expressed in a better way by a more complex construction with the verb “stare” and the “gerundio” form (the English -ing form).
Also note that the subject pronoun can be dropped from a conjugated verb because the ending of the conjugated verb communicates the subject of the action.
Present Tense Conjugations 1, 2, & 3
To conjugate regular verbs follow this method:
1) Drop the ending from the infinitive to give the stem.
Exx. lavorare (to work) → lavor-
2) Add the correct ending:
Exx. lavorare → lavor- → lavoro
In Italian, the present indicative tense works much like the present tense in English. To conjugate Italian verbs in the present indicative tense, you first need to understand that Italian infinitives (the “to” form, as in to die, to sleep, to dream) end in one of three ways — and that you conjugate the verb based on that ending:
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