Breakdown of Adesso stiamo svuotando la vecchia soffitta.
vecchio
old
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
adesso
now
svuotare
to empty
la soffitta
the attic
Questions & Answers about Adesso stiamo svuotando la vecchia soffitta.
Why use stiamo svuotando instead of just svuotiamo?
Stiamo svuotando is the present continuous tense, formed with the verb stare (here as stiamo) and the gerund form of the main verb ending in -ando. While the regular present tense (svuotiamo) can also mean "we are emptying", using stare + gerund strongly emphasizes that the action is happening right now, at this very moment.
How does the verb svuotando relate to the word for "empty" (vuoto)?
Why is the adjective vecchia placed before soffitta?
Common adjectives describing age, size, and beauty (like vecchio, nuovo, grande, bello) usually go before the noun. Placing it before soffitta makes it sound like a natural, inherent quality ("the old attic"), whereas putting it after (la soffitta vecchia) would specifically contrast it with a new attic.
Is there a difference between soffitta and soffitto?
Yes, they are very easy to confuse! Soffitta (feminine) means "attic", which is the room at the top of a house. Soffitto (masculine) means "ceiling", which is just the top interior surface of any room.
How would we say "We emptied two of them" (attics) using ne in the past tense for this lesson?
If we updated this sentence to fit the current lesson, you would say Ne abbiamo svuotate due. When you use the partitive ne (meaning "of them") with the passato prossimo, the past participle must agree in gender and number with what ne replaces. Since ne replaces soffitte (feminine plural), the participle takes the feminine plural ending -e (svuotate).
Learn Adesso stiamo svuotando la vecchia soffitta and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free