🔍 In short. The italian stare gerundio construction (sto facendo, stavo leggendo, starò partendo) is the Italian progressive form: it emphasises that an action is ongoing at a specific moment. It is the perifrasi that uses the verb stare in one of four simple tenses plus the gerundio of the main verb. This guide covers when to pick it over the plain present or imperfect, the three tenses it allows, the future-of-probability use, and the verbs that refuse the construction altogether.
You will see why Italians often say cosa stai facendo? when they could simply say cosa fai?, and why sto sapendo l’italiano is wrong while sto imparando l’italiano is right. Real examples come from a bookshop in Lucca, a sartoria, a train to Trieste, and a kitchen at dinner time.
By the end of the guide you will know the difference between leggo and sto leggendo, the meaning of starà dormendo as a guess, and the literary perifrasi va leggendo / viene leggendo you will meet in Italian novels.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- What the italian stare gerundio means
- Sto facendo: the present progressive
- Stavo facendo: the past progressive
- Starò facendo: the future progressive
- Starà dormendo: future-of-probability
- Sto leggendo vs leggo: when each wins
- Where italian stare gerundio cannot go
- Andare + gerundio: the literary cousin
- Stare per + infinito: about to do
- Cheat sheet: italian stare gerundio at a glance
- Three common mistakes
- A small dialogue: phone call from the sartoria
- Quiz
- Frequently asked questions
What the italian stare gerundio means
The italian stare gerundio is a perifrasi: a fixed combination of two verb forms that together carry a single meaning. The structure is stare (in one of three simple tenses: present, imperfect, future) plus the gerundio of the main verb. Together they signal that the action is unfolding, in progress, at the time the speaker is talking about.
Compare with English:
- Sto leggendo = I am reading (right now, in progress).
- Stavo leggendo = I was reading (in progress at a past moment).
- Starò leggendo = I will be reading (in progress at a future moment).
The italian stare gerundio overlaps with the plain present and imperfect, and Italians often choose between them based on whether they want to emphasise the in-progress nature of the action. We will see when each wins in section Sto leggendo vs leggo below.
Important: this guide covers stare + gerundio as a progressive construction. The same gerundio form has many other uses (causale, modale, temporale, pur + gerundio), which are covered in our companion guide on the italian gerundio.
Sto facendo: the present progressive
The present progressive form pairs stare in the present indicative with the gerundio. It marks an action happening right now, at the moment of speaking.
| Persona | stare | Esempio |
|---|---|---|
| io | sto | sto leggendo |
| tu | stai | stai mangiando |
| lui/lei | sta | sta dormendo |
| noi | stiamo | stiamo lavorando |
| voi | state | state aspettando |
| loro | stanno | stanno arrivando |
Some verbs have irregular gerundio roots inherited from Latin and you will meet them in italian stare gerundio sentences constantly: bere → bevendo, dire → dicendo, fare → facendo, condurre → conducendo, tradurre → traducendo, trarre → traendo. Memorising these six roots covers almost every irregular case you will encounter.
- Pronto, Caterina? Non posso parlare ora, sto cucinando.
Hello, Caterina? I can’t talk right now, I’m cooking. - Pietro sta sistemando l’inventario in libreria.
Pietro is sorting out the inventory at the bookshop. - Stiamo finendo di cenare, stiamo arrivando tra dieci minuti.
We’re just finishing dinner, we’re coming in ten minutes. - Caterina, cosa stai facendo in laboratorio a quest’ora?
Caterina, what are you doing in the workshop at this hour?
The present progressive emphasises the in-progress nature of the action. If you want to describe a habit or a general truth, Italian uses the plain present: leggo ogni sera (I read every evening), not sto leggendo ogni sera.
Stavo facendo: the past progressive
The past progressive uses stare in the imperfetto. It anchors an ongoing past action, typically as the background to another past event. This is the italian stare gerundio form that Italians use most frequently, especially in narrative passages where a foreground event interrupts a longer ongoing action.
A classic narrative use: a causal connector (poiché, dato che, siccome) introduces a stare+gerundio clause that motivates the main verb. Poiché stava piovendo da ore, Caterina ha rinunciato a passare in libreria (Since it had been raining for hours, Caterina gave up on going to the bookshop). The italian stare gerundio compresses “for hours” + “the rain was ongoing” into one form.
- Stavo leggendo in libreria quando è entrato Pietro.
I was reading at the bookshop when Pietro came in. - Caterina stava tagliando la stoffa quando ha sentito il telefono.
Caterina was cutting the fabric when she heard the phone. - Mentre Elena stava aspettando il treno, ha letto trenta pagine.
While Elena was waiting for the train, she read thirty pages. - Pietro non ha risposto: stava parlando con un cliente all’altro telefono.
Pietro didn’t answer: he was talking to a customer on the other line.
The past progressive pairs naturally with the passato prossimo of another verb. Pattern: stavo facendo X quando è successo Y. The imperfetto progressivo describes the background; the passato prossimo describes the interrupting event.
🔍 The interruption pattern. Use the italian stare gerundio with stare in the imperfetto when you want to describe a background action that was interrupted: stavo + gerundio + quando + passato prossimo. This pattern is one of the most natural ways for Italians to tell what they were doing when something happened.
Starò facendo: the future progressive
The future progressive form pairs stare in the futuro semplice with the gerundio. It describes an action that will be in progress at a future moment. This is the rarest form of the italian stare gerundio; in conversation Italians often replace it with the plain future or the present indicative.
- Domani a quest’ora starò partendo per Trieste in treno.
Tomorrow at this time I will be leaving for Trieste by train. - Sabato sera staremo cenando a casa di Caterina, se vuoi passare.
Saturday evening we will be having dinner at Caterina’s, if you want to drop by. - Tra un’ora Pietro starà chiudendo la libreria.
In an hour Pietro will be closing the bookshop.
The future progressive feels slightly formal or precise. In casual conversation, Italians often use the plain present with a time adverb: domani a quest’ora parto. Both work; the italian stare gerundio version is more literal about the moment-by-moment unfolding.
Starà dormendo: future-of-probability
Italian extends the italian stare gerundio future form into a second meaning: expressing a guess or probability about the present. The construction starà + gerundio means “he or she must be doing X right now”, a guess based on the speaker’s reasoning rather than a literal future.
- Sono le sette di mattina della domenica, Pietro starà dormendo.
It’s seven in the morning on a Sunday, Pietro must be sleeping. - Caterina starà chiudendo la sartoria, è già tardi.
Caterina must be closing the tailor’s shop, it’s already late. - Non risponde al telefono, starà guidando verso Padova.
He’s not answering the phone, he must be driving to Padova. - Cosa starà pensando Francesco di questa proposta?
What must Francesco be thinking about this proposal?
The probability use is far more frequent in conversation than the literal future. When you hear starà followed by a gerundio, the speaker is almost always guessing about the present moment, not predicting a future progressive action.
Sto leggendo vs leggo: when each wins
The italian stare gerundio and the plain present often describe the same situation, and Italians switch between them based on subtle emphasis.
- Sto leggendo = the action is unfolding right now, in this moment. Emphasises the in-progress nature.
- Leggo = the action is happening generally, or as a habit, or as a fact about me. Less moment-specific.
- «Cosa fai?» «Sto leggendo un giallo di Camilleri.» (right now)
- «Cosa fai la sera?» «Leggo, di solito.» (habit)
- Sto lavorando a un progetto da tre mesi. (current, sustained)
- Lavoro in una libreria da tre mesi. (state, not progressive)
When the action is a stable fact, profession, or habit, Italian wants the plain present. When the action is unfolding visibly or audibly right now, the italian stare gerundio emphasises the progressive aspect.
🎯 Mini-task #1. Choose between italian stare gerundio and plain present/imperfect for each sentence.
- «Cosa fai stasera?» «Niente di speciale, ____ (sto leggendo / leggo) un libro.»
- Pronto, Elena? Non posso ora, ____ (sto cucinando / cucino) la cena.
- Pietro ____ (sta lavorando / lavora) in libreria dal 2019.
- Mentre Caterina ____ (stava tagliando / tagliava) la stoffa, è arrivato un cliente urgente.
👉 Show answers
1. leggo (habit-style answer to a general question).
2. sto cucinando (right now, in progress, justifying the can’t-talk).
3. lavora (stable fact, profession from 2019 to now).
4. stava tagliando (past progressive, interrupted by the customer arrival).
Where italian stare gerundio cannot go
The italian stare gerundio has several restrictions that English speakers regularly miss. Stripping these from your usage immediately makes your Italian sound natural.
- Verbi di stato (state verbs) refuse the construction. Wrong: sto essendo stanco, sto sapendo l’italiano, sto avendo fame. Correct: sono stanco, so l’italiano, ho fame. The full list of state verbs that block italian stare gerundio: essere, stare, sedere, rimanere, restare, avere, possedere, giacere, capire, sapere, volere, potere.
- Exception: when a state verb shifts to action. Some of these verbs change meaning in context and become action verbs, in which case the italian stare gerundio works. Caterina sta avendo molto successo con la nuova linea di giacche (where avere means “to obtain”, not “to possess”) is correct. Il software del registratore di cassa sta capendo lentamente le nuove regole di Pietro (where capire means “to work out”, a process, not a state of knowledge) is also correct. The boundary is the verb’s meaning, not its lexical form.
- Limited-duration actions refuse the construction. Wrong: stavo mangiando solo per cinque minuti. The italian stare gerundio cannot be combined with a time limit; for that, use the plain past tense: ho mangiato solo per cinque minuti.
- Compound or passive tenses refuse the construction. Wrong: è stato leggendo. The italian stare gerundio only works with stare in simple tenses (presente, imperfetto, futuro semplice). No passato prossimo, no trapassato, no passive.
- Modal verbs (potere/dovere/volere) refuse the construction. Wrong: può starlo leggendo, deve stare facendo. With modal verbs, use the plain infinitive: può leggerlo, deve farlo.
These four restrictions cover almost every wrong italian stare gerundio sentence English speakers produce. If you remember to ask “is this verb a state? is the action limited in time? is the auxiliary stare in a compound tense? is there a modal in front?”, you will catch the error before it reaches the page.
Andare + gerundio: the literary cousin
Italian has two cousins of the italian stare gerundio that use different verbs and feel more literary or formal: andare + gerundio and venire + gerundio.
- Andare + gerundio: emphasises gradual development, progress over time. Il caffè di Caterina va migliorando di settimana in settimana.
Caterina’s coffee keeps getting better week after week. - Andare + gerundio is also common with rapid, repeated actions, where English uses “away at”. Pietro andava tamburellando con le dita sul bancone mentre aspettava il pacco.
Pietro was drumming away with his fingers on the counter while he waited for the parcel. - Venire + gerundio: even more literary, often archaic or formal-bureaucratic. Tutto quello che l’autore viene dicendo nei capitoli successivi va in questa direzione.
Everything the author goes on to say in the following chapters goes in this direction. - La situazione va peggiorando di giorno in giorno.
The situation keeps getting worse day by day. - Pietro va dicendo a tutti che la libreria chiuderà a fine anno.
Pietro keeps telling everyone that the bookshop will close at year’s end.
You will meet andare + gerundio in journalism and essays; venire + gerundio mostly in older literature and academic prose. As a B1 learner, recognise them when reading; use the italian stare gerundio for progressive constructions in your own writing and speech.
Stare per + infinito: about to do
One construction that looks similar to italian stare gerundio but means something entirely different: stare per + infinito. It expresses imminence, “to be about to do”.
- Pietro sta per chiudere la libreria, sbrigati.
Pietro is about to close the bookshop, hurry up. - Caterina stava per uscire quando ha sentito bussare alla porta.
Caterina was about to leave when she heard a knock at the door. - Sto per partire per Trieste, ti chiamo da lì.
I’m about to leave for Trieste, I’ll call you from there.
🔍 Stare + gerundio vs stare per + infinito. Sto leggendo = I am in the middle of reading (in progress). Sto per leggere = I am about to read (imminent, hasn’t started yet). The two are not interchangeable; they describe opposite phases of an action.
Cheat sheet: italian stare gerundio at a glance
One table, the entire italian stare gerundio system. Keep it open while you draft your next sentence in Italian.
| Form | Tense of stare | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sto + gerundio | presente | I am doing (now) | Sto leggendo un libro. |
| Stavo + gerundio | imperfetto | I was doing (background) | Stavo cucinando quando sei arrivato. |
| Starò + gerundio | futuro | I will be doing | Domani starò partendo per Trieste. |
| Starà + gerundio | futuro (probability) | He or she must be doing | Starà dormendo, sono le sette. |
| Sto per + infinito | nessuno | about to do (imminent) | Sto per chiudere la libreria. |
| Va + gerundio | presente | keeps doing (gradual) | Va migliorando. |
| Viene + gerundio | presente (literary) | goes on doing | Viene dicendo da tempo. |
| NOT compatible | nessuno | state verbs, compound tenses, modals, time-limit | NOT: sto sapendo, è stato leggendo |
Three common mistakes
Three errors in italian stare gerundio flag a B1 sentence as written by a learner. Fixing them is fast.
Mistake 1. Using italian stare gerundio with a state verb. Wrong: sto sapendo l’italiano da due anni. Correct: so l’italiano da due anni. State verbs (sapere, capire, conoscere, essere, avere, volere, potere) describe stable conditions, not actions in progress, so they refuse the progressive form.
Mistake 2. Using italian stare gerundio for habits or general truths. Wrong: sto lavorando ogni giorno in libreria. Correct: lavoro ogni giorno in libreria. The progressive form is for in-progress actions at a specific moment, not for habitual or general patterns.
Mistake 3. Confusing stare + gerundio with stare per + infinito. Wrong: sto leggendo il libro when you mean “I’m about to read the book”. Correct for that meaning: sto per leggere il libro. The first construction describes an action in progress; the second describes an action about to begin.
🎯 Mini-task #2. Correct the wrong italian stare gerundio sentences.
- Sto sapendo che Caterina ha riaperto la sartoria.
- Stavo per leggere quando il telefono è suonato (you mean: I was about to read).
- Pietro sta lavorando in libreria dal 2019 (you mean: it’s his stable job).
👉 Show answers
1. So che Caterina ha riaperto la sartoria (sapere is a state verb).
2. Sentence is correct! Stavo per leggere = was about to read.
3. Pietro lavora in libreria dal 2019 (stable fact, plain present).
A small dialogue: phone call from the sartoria
👩🏽🦱 Caterina: Pronto Pietro, sono Caterina. Stai chiudendo la libreria adesso?
Hi Pietro, it’s Caterina. Are you closing the bookshop now?
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Quasi, sto per fare l’ultima ronda tra gli scaffali. Tu cosa stai facendo?
Almost, I’m about to do the last round between the shelves. What are you doing?
👩🏽🦱 Caterina: Sto finendo una giacca per un cliente, ma stavo pensando di passare da te per prendere quel romanzo di Starnone che Elena mi aveva consigliato.
I’m finishing a jacket for a client, but I was thinking of stopping by your place to pick up that Starnone novel that Elena recommended to me.
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Va bene. Quando arrivi starai trovando le luci spente, ma se mi fai uno squillo apro io dalla retrostanza.
OK. When you arrive you’ll be finding the lights off, but if you give me a ring I’ll open from the back room.
👩🏽🦱 Caterina: Perfetto. A che ora pensi di andare via?
Perfect. What time are you thinking of leaving?
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Tra mezz’ora circa. A quest’ora Elena starà già cenando, le manda i saluti.
In about half an hour. At this time Elena must be already having dinner, send her my regards.
👩🏽🦱 Caterina: Glieli faccio. Ah, ti sto chiamando anche per un’altra cosa: Francesco sta organizzando una cena per sabato, ti va di venire?
I’ll pass them on. Oh, I’m also calling you for another thing: Francesco is organising a dinner for Saturday, do you want to come?
👨🏼🦰 Pietro: Volentieri. A che ora va? Sabato pomeriggio starò ancora lavorando in libreria fino alle sei.
I’d love to. What time? Saturday afternoon I’ll still be working at the bookshop until six.
Count the italian stare gerundio forms Caterina and Pietro slip into the call: stai chiudendo, sto per fare, stai facendo, sto finendo, stavo pensando, starai trovando, starà cenando, sto chiamando, sta organizzando, starò lavorando. Every form covered in one short phone call.
🎯 Mini-challenge. Write four italian stare gerundio sentences about your typical Sunday morning: one in sto facendo, one in stavo facendo + quando + passato prossimo, one in the future-of-probability (starà + gerundio), and one with stare per + infinito for imminence.
Test your understanding
Ready to test italian stare gerundio in context? The quiz below mixes presente, imperfetto, future-of-probability, and the stare per + infinito alternative, with a few traps on state verbs and habits.
LOADING QUIZ…
Frequently asked questions
Five questions about italian stare gerundio come up in every A2-B1 cohort. The answers below draw on real usage and on the Treccani entry on gerundio.
What’s the difference between leggo and sto leggendo?
Both can describe a present action, but they emphasise different aspects. Leggo states the fact: I read, I am a reader, this is what I’m doing. Sto leggendo emphasises the in-progress nature of the action right now: I am in the middle of reading at this very moment. In conversation Italians choose based on whether the moment-by-moment unfolding matters. For habits, profession, or general facts, use leggo. For an action visibly or audibly happening now, use sto leggendo.
Can I use italian stare gerundio with essere or stare itself?
No. State verbs (essere, stare, sedere, rimanere, avere, possedere, sapere, capire, volere, potere) describe stable conditions, not progressive actions, so they refuse the italian stare gerundio construction. You say sono stanco, not sto essendo stanco. So l’italiano, not sto sapendo l’italiano. Ho fame, not sto avendo fame. The same applies to modal verbs: voglio, devo, posso, never stare + volendo/dovendo/potendo.
What’s the difference between sto leggendo and sto per leggere?
Sto leggendo means I am in the middle of reading (action in progress, has started). Sto per leggere means I am about to read (action imminent, has not started yet). The two constructions describe opposite phases of the same action. Don’t mix them: if someone asks cosa stai facendo? and you reply sto per leggere, you’re saying you haven’t started yet; if you reply sto leggendo, you’re already in the middle of it.
Does starà dormendo mean he will be sleeping or he must be sleeping?
In most contexts, the second. Italian extends the italian stare gerundio future form into a probability use: starà followed by a gerundio typically means he or she must be doing X right now, based on the speaker’s reasoning. Pietro starà dormendo at seven on a Sunday morning means I’m guessing Pietro is sleeping, not predicting his future. For a literal future progressive (he will be sleeping), Italian usually adds a future time adverb: domani a quest’ora Pietro starà dormendo.
What about andare + gerundio and venire + gerundio?
Both are perifrasi cousins of italian stare gerundio, but with different aspectual meanings. Andare + gerundio emphasises gradual development (va migliorando di settimana in settimana = it keeps getting better week by week). Venire + gerundio is more literary or archaic (viene dicendo = he goes on saying). You will meet both in writing, especially journalism and essays; in conversation, Italians stick with stare + gerundio for progressive actions and use the plain present or imperfect for everything else.
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Related guides
- Italian Gerundio (non-progressive): the gerundio in its adverbial uses (causale, modale, temporale, pur + gerundio), without stare.
- Italian Indicativo Tenses: the four simple tenses behind every italian stare gerundio (presente, imperfetto, futuro).
- Italian Essere vs Stare: when stare is the right verb to use, beyond the progressive perifrasi.
- Accademia della Crusca: institutional source for italian stare gerundio register and the literary perifrasi.
