{"id":69644,"date":"2017-07-26T23:07:49","date_gmt":"2017-07-27T03:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/present-continuous-italian\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T11:17:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T15:17:32","slug":"present-continuous-italian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/italian\/present-continuous-italian\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to the Italian Present Continuous"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to be able to explain what’s going on in the here and now, you’ll need to master the Italian present continuous. Fortunately, this tense isn’t a terribly tricky element of Italian grammar.<\/p>\n

Let’s go over all the essentials you need to form the Italian present continuous tense and use it in real-world speech or writing.
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What Is the Italian Present Continuous?<\/h2>\n

We use the present continuous (also called the present progressive) to say what\u2019s happening right now<\/strong>. It corresponds to the English verb ending “-ing” used with the present tense of \u201cto be,\u201d as in, \u201cI am reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Italian, you may’ve already seen or heard it with verbs ending in –ando<\/em> and –endo <\/em><\/strong>(these verbs are called gerunds). This is a relatively regular tense, so the conjugations are pretty easy to memorize.<\/p>\n

You should only employ the present continuous for things happening right now. More often, when talking about the present, you simply use the regular present tense<\/a> (also called the present indicative).<\/p>\n

How to Form the Italian Present Continuous\u00a0<\/h2>\n

To make the present continuous, you first need the helper verb stare<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>In other contexts, stare<\/em> can mean \u201cto stay\u201d (among other definitions), but here it works something like the English helper verb \u201cto be.\u201d<\/strong> Its conjugation is irregular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Italian<\/th>English<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
io sto<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td>I am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
tu stai <\/a>\n <\/td>you (singular, informal) are <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
lui<\/i> <\/a>\n \/ lei<\/i> <\/a>\n \/ Lei sta<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td>he\/she is, you (formal) are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
noi stiamo<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td>we are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voi state<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td>you (plural) are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
loro stanno<\/i> <\/a>\n <\/td>they are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

You’ll then tack on your main verb with its gerund ending<\/strong>. To do this, drop the -are, -ere or -ire <\/em>ending from the infinitive of the verb and add –ando<\/em><\/strong> onto the stem of –are<\/em> verbs<\/strong> and –endo<\/em><\/strong> onto the stem of –ere<\/em> and -ire<\/em> verbs<\/strong>.\u00a0For example:<\/p>\n

cantare<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 to sing<\/p>\n

cant- <\/em>+ -ando <\/em>= <\/strong>cantando<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(singing)<\/p>\n

venire<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 to come<\/p>\n

ven- <\/em>+ -endo <\/em>= <\/strong>venendo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(coming)<\/p>\n

To make a full phrase, we combine the helper verb stare<\/em> conjugated for the subject we want, followed by the main verb. As with other Italian sentences, you don\u2019t necessarily need to state the subject pronoun if it\u2019s obvious from the context.<\/p>\n

(io)<\/em> sto cantando<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 I\u2019m singing<\/p>\n

(loro)<\/em> stanno venendo<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 they are coming<\/p>\n

In a sentence, it looks like this:<\/p>\n

I miei genitori stanno venendo<\/strong> qui dalla Francia.<\/em> \u2014 My parents are coming here (i.e., en route right now) from France.<\/p>\n

Irregular Verbs in the Present Continuous<\/h3>\n

The irregular verbs<\/a> to worry about with this tense are simply the contracted infinitives. If you\u2019ve studied your present tense irregular verbs well, you already know the \u201cexpanded\u201d stems that’ll come into play here rather than the infinitive stems. Here are a couple of them:<\/p>\n

bere<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 to drink<\/p>\n

In questo momento sta bevendo<\/strong> birra<\/em>. \u2014 At this moment he\u2019s drinking beer.<\/p>\n

fare<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 to do\/make<\/p>\n

Non possono uscire perch\u00e9 stanno facendo<\/strong> la pennichella<\/em>. \u2014 They can\u2019t go out because they\u2019re taking their naps.<\/p>\n

Other contracted infinitive forms include:<\/p>\n

condurre<\/em><\/strong> (to drive\/to lead) \u2014 conducendo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(driving\/leading)<\/p>\n

dire<\/strong><\/em> (to say) \u2014 dicendo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(saying)<\/p>\n

trarre<\/em><\/strong> (to bring\/to pull) \u2014 traendo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(pulling\/bringing)<\/p>\n

porre<\/em><\/strong> (to put\/to lay\/to set) \u2014 ponendo<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(putting\/laying\/setting)<\/p>\n

When you know these, you can also make gerunds from their sister verbs in the same way. For example, attrarre<\/em> (to attract) works just like\u00a0trarre;<\/em> it becomes attraendo<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0Likewise with contrarre<\/em> (to contract), estrarre<\/em> (to extract), distrarre<\/em> (to distract) and sottrarre<\/em> (to subtract).<\/p>\n

If the present continuous is used with personal pronouns, those usually come before the verbal phrase. For example:<\/p>\n

Ci stiamo vestendo!<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 We\u2019re getting dressed!<\/p>\n

When to Use the Present Continuous in Italian<\/h2>\n

Before you roll out the present continuous, ask yourself: Do I want to emphasize that this action is taking place right now? <\/strong>For example, I could say:<\/p>\n

Che stanno facendo?<\/em> \u2014 What are they doing?<\/p>\n

This wouldn’t be a way for me to ask what they generally do for a job or in their free time. I want to know what these people are currently doing at the moment of speaking<\/strong>. Perhaps they\u2019re making me late and I want to know what’s taking them so long, for instance.<\/p>\n

The question could be interpreted as a bit more insistent or anxious than if I were to ask:<\/p>\n

Che fanno?<\/em> \u2014 What are they doing?\/What do they do?<\/p>\n

Both English translations are possible. This question could mean about the same as Che stanno facendo?\u00a0<\/em>above, but depending on the context it could also be asking what they generally do (at this time of day, in life, what they enjoy, what they’ve been up to lately, etc.).<\/p>\n

Here are some more examples that contrast the present continuous from the present indicative tense:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
Present Continuous<\/th>Present Indicative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Sta\u2019 zitto! Sto ascoltando<\/b> un podcast!<\/i> <\/a>\n
(Be quiet! I\u2019m listening to a podcast!)<\/td>		 Ascolto<\/b> molti podcast in italiano.<\/i> <\/a>\n
(I listen to many podcasts in Italian.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I bambini stanno giocando<\/b> nel parco.<\/i> <\/a>\n
(The kids are playing in the park.)<\/td>		 La domenica giocano<\/b> nel parco.<\/i> <\/a>\n
(They play in the park on Sundays.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Io e Micol stiamo provando<\/b> i passi di danza.<\/i> <\/a>\n
(Micol and I are practicing the dance steps.)<\/td>		 Pratichiamo<\/b> i nuovi passi una volta alla settimana.<\/i> <\/a>\n
(We practice the new steps once a week.)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

It’s important to note that you don’t use the present progressive to talk about the immediate future<\/strong>, as you would in English with a sentence like, “Tomorrow I’m going to the store.” Talking about the future requires the future tense<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How to Practice the Present Continuous\u00a0<\/h2>\n

To get more comfortable with the present continuous, you could study a few flashcards<\/a> or watch a couple of videos<\/a> and listen for its usage.\u00a0It can also be useful to practice by role-playing situations and talking about what people are doing right at the moment.<\/p>\n

If that feels too ridiculous, try looking at pictures in Italian newspapers<\/a> or magazines<\/a>\u00a0and reporting on the situations as if they were happening right in front of you. You can also practice this tense by listening to how native speakers use it in action with a program like FluentU<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

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