How to express the present continuous in Italian
When in English the present continuous expresses an action happens at the moment of speaking, we use in Italian the present tense of the verb stare + the gerund of the verb.
The gerund is formed in Italian from the infinitive of the verb. The ending for the gerund are the following:
-are>-ando andare>andando
-ere>-endo mettere> mettendo
-ire>-endo finire>finendo
example:
Mario sta andando al cinema
tu stai dormendo in piedi
(Io) sto aprendo la porta
Some irregular verbs form the gerund from the first person sing. of the present, like:
fare - (io) faccio>sto facendo
bere - (io) bevo> sto bevendo
tradurre - (io) traduco> sto straducendo
dire - (io) dico> sto dicendo
Try to explain, what are you doing now using the expression “stare + gerund”.
Tags: irregular verb
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