Breakdown of Adesso stiamo pulendo il bagno.
pulire
to clean
il bagno
the bath / the bathroom
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
adesso
now
Questions & Answers about Adesso stiamo pulendo il bagno.
Why use stiamo pulendo instead of just puliamo?
Both can translate to "we are cleaning" in English. However, using stare plus the gerund (like pulendo) creates the present progressive tense. This emphasizes that you are in the middle of the action right at this exact moment.
Can I say siamo pulendo since siamo means "we are"?
No, that is a common trap! Even though we say "we are cleaning" in English, Italian uses the verb stare (to stay/be), not essere (to be), to form this tense. Always use the correct present tense form of stare plus the gerund.
Pulire usually gets an -isc- added in the present tense (like io pulisco). Why isn't it there in pulendo?
The gerund (the Italian -ing form) is very regular and completely ignores the -isc- pattern. To make it, you just take the infinitive pulire, drop the -ire, and add -endo.