Learn Italian: I vecchi viali stanno venendo asfaltati oggi. - The old avenues are being paved today.

In Italian, forming the continuous passive with essere (like stanno essendo asfaltati) sounds very clunky and is almost never used. Instead, Italian uses the verb venire (to come) as the auxiliary for the passive voice. To say 'are being paved,' we combine stanno with venendo and the past participle.

Does the past participle asfaltati have to agree with the subject in this structure?

Yes. Because this is a passive construction, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. The subject is i vecchi viali (masculine plural), so the past participle asfaltato becomes asfaltati.

Could I just say I vecchi viali vengono asfaltati oggi?

Yes, you can. The simple passive vengono asfaltati can mean either 'they are paved' as a general fact, or 'they are being paved' right now. However, using the progressive form stanno venendo asfaltati explicitly emphasizes that the action is actively happening in this exact moment.

What is the difference between a viale and a normal strada?

A strada is the generic word for a street or road. A viale is specifically a wide avenue, boulevard, or driveway, and it is usually lined with trees.