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### Gradual Actions with *Andare*

To express that an action is happening gradually, Italian uses **andare** combined with a present gerund (the *-ndo* form).

{{item:851327}}

While *stare* + gerund describes an action happening right now, *andare* + gerund emphasizes slow progression—often translating to "is gradually doing" something. Just conjugate **andare** to match your subject and add the gerund.

### Formal Relative Pronouns: *Il quale*

You already know **che** as the standard word for "which" or "that". In more formal written Italian, you will often see **il quale**. Unlike *che*, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces:

| Masculine | Feminine |
| --- | --- |
| **il quale** (singular) | **la quale** (singular) |
| **i quali** (plural) | **le quali** (plural) |

In this lesson, we use these pronouns as the *direct object* of a relative clause. In this elevated structure, the relative pronoun appears right after the noun it describes, followed by the subject of the new clause, and then the verb.

### Putting It Together

Let's see these two concepts work together to describe gradual environmental shifts. Notice how *il quale* or *la quale* acts as the direct object, and the *andare* + gerund construction highlights the slow, inexorable change.

{{item:851328}}

{{item:851331}}

{{item:851338}}

This construction works across different persons and tenses. Here, *andare* is conjugated as *andiamo* to show that "we" are the ones gradually losing the harvest:

{{item:851344}}

Gradual continuous action (andare + gerund)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
degradation	il degrado
to be gradually (doing something)	andare
They observe the environment, which degradation is gradually destroying.	Osservano l'ambiente, il quale il degrado va distruggendo.
coastal	costiero
to submerge	sommergere
The coastal city, which the sea is gradually submerging, is disappearing.	La città costiera, la quale il mare va sommergendo, scompare.
habitat	l'habitat
irreversible	irreversibile
to threaten	minacciare
Animals are losing the habitat, which this irreversible change is gradually threatening.	Gli animali perdono l'habitat, il quale questo cambiamento irreversibile va minacciando.
inexorably	inesorabilmente
to devastate	devastare
There is an ecosystem, which pollution is inexorably devastating.	C'è un ecosistema, il quale l'inquinamento va inesorabilmente devastando.
The climate threatens not only the ecosystem, but also the coast, which the sea is gradually destroying.	Il clima minaccia non solo l'ecosistema, ma anche la costa, la quale il mare va distruggendo.
coastline	il litorale
We observe the coastline, which the sea has been gradually submerging for years.	Osserviamo il litorale, il quale il mare va sommergendo da anni.
We protect the habitat, which this irreversible change is gradually devastating.	Proteggiamo l'habitat, il quale questo cambiamento irreversibile va devastando.
There is a forest, which degradation is gradually destroying.	C'è una foresta, la quale il degrado va distruggendo.
The drought was threatening the harvest, which we are inexorably losing.	La siccità stava minacciando il raccolto, il quale andiamo perdendo inesorabilmente.
They are evaluating the coastal zone, which the climate is gradually devastating.	Valutano la zona costiera, la quale il clima va devastando.
The coastline, which the water is gradually submerging, is disappearing.	Il litorale, il quale l'acqua va sommergendo, sparisce.