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### Right at This Moment

In Italian, the regular present tense can mean both "I iron" and "I am ironing." However, when you want to emphasize that an action is happening *right at this very moment*, you use the **present progressive**.

You form this by combining the present tense of **stare** (to stay/be) with the **gerund** form of the action verb.

Here is a quick reminder of the present tense of **stare**:

| Subject | Stare |
|---|---|
| io | sto |
| tu | stai |
| lui/lei/Lei | sta |
| noi | stiamo |
| voi | state |
| loro | stanno |

### Forming the Gerund (-ando)

To make the gerund for verbs that end in **-are**, drop the *-are* and add **-ando**.

For example, *stirare* (to iron) becomes *stirando*, and *spazzare* (to sweep) becomes *spazzando*.

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### Forming the Gerund (-endo)

For verbs that end in **-ere** or **-ire**, drop the ending and add **-endo**.

For example, *stendere* (to hang out to dry) becomes *stendendo*, and *pulire* (to clean) becomes *pulendo*.

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### Adverbs and Formal Address

You will often see time words like **già** (already), **ancora** (still), or **adesso** (now) paired with the present progressive to emphasize timing.

Additionally, remember to use the third-person singular **sta** when speaking formally to someone using *Lei*.

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Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

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)

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

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
to iron	stirare
shirt	la camicia
I am ironing my shirt.	Sto stirando la mia camicia.
My mother is ironing a shirt.	Mia madre sta stirando una camicia.
to sweep	spazzare
broom	la scopa
Marco is sweeping the floor with the new broom.	Marco sta spazzando il pavimento con la scopa nuova.
Are you sweeping the living room?	Stai spazzando il salotto?
to dust	spolverare
piece of furniture	il mobile
They are dusting the old furniture.	Stanno spolverando i mobili vecchi.
to tidy up	sistemare
Anna is tidying up the books and dusting the furniture.	Anna sta sistemando i libri e spolverando i mobili.
to hang out to dry	stendere
laundry	il bucato
We are hanging out the laundry on the balcony.	Stiamo stendendo il bucato sul balcone.
Are they still hanging out the laundry?	Stanno ancora stendendo il bucato?
to dry	asciugare
My son is already drying the plates.	Mio figlio sta già asciugando i piatti.
I am drying the glasses now.	Adesso sto asciugando i bicchieri.
Madam, are you tidying up your room?	Signora, sta sistemando la sua stanza?
Professor, are you dusting the desk?	Professore, sta spolverando la scrivania?
We are cleaning the bathroom now.	Adesso stiamo pulendo il bagno.
The boy is sweeping the floor with the new broom.	Il ragazzo sta spazzando il pavimento con la scopa nuova.
the TV (short for la televisione)	la tv
I am watching TV.	Sto guardando la tv.
In the evening I watch TV.	La sera guardo la tv.
to do the cleaning	fare le pulizie
Today I am doing the cleaning: I sweep and I dust.	Oggi faccio le pulizie: spazzo e spolvero.
Who does the cleaning at your house?	Chi fa le pulizie a casa tua?
the order, tidiness	l'ordine
My mother loves order in the house.	Mia madre ama l'ordine in casa.
There is no order in my wardrobe.	Non c'è ordine nel mio armadio.
to tidy up, to put in order	mettere in ordine
I am tidying up my bedroom.	Metto in ordine la mia camera.
I put the books and the notebooks in order.	Ho messo in ordine i libri e i quaderni.

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