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44 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

Other verbs ending in –durre use the Latin stem – duc (for example, produrre,
producendo).
Reflexive and object pronouns follow the gerund and are attached to it to form one
word. In the compound gerund, they are attached to avendo or essendo.
Vedendolo tutti i giorni, ho potuto Seeing him every day, I could
apprezzare il suo valore. appreciate his value.
Essendomi laureata a pieni voti, Having graduated with full marks,
ho trovato subito lavoro. I immediately found a job.

Stare + gerund
The main use of the gerund is with the present tense of stare to form the progres-
sive form of the present (action currently in progress: I am working) or with the
imperfect tense of stare (action in progress in the past: I was working). It is never
used with compound tenses.

In English, the present progressive is also used to express a future action. In Ital-
ian, the present indicative is used instead. Note that whereas the present indicative
lavoro can mean both “I work” and “I am working,” sto lavorando can only mean
“I am working (right now)”. Similarly, lavoravo can mean “I used to work” and “I
was working,” and stavo lavorando can only mean “I was working.” The progres-
sive forms are used less frequently in Italian than in English. They may always be
replaced by the simple forms of the present and imperfect.

Table 14 Present Tense of stare + Gerund = Present Progressive
Simple Present Present Tense of stare + Gerund of Main Verb
lavoro (io) sto I am working
lavori (tu) stai you are working
lavora (lui/lei) sta lavorando he/she is working
lavoriamo (noi) stiamo we are working
lavorate (voi) state you are working
lavorano (loro) stanno they are working

Table 15 Imperfect of stare + Gerund = Past Progressive
Imperfect Imperfect Tense stare + Gerund of Main Verb
lavoravo (io) stavo I was working
lavoravi (tu) stavi you were working
lavorava (lui/lei) stava he/she was working
lavoravamo (noi) stavamo lavorando we were working
lavoravate (voi) stavate you were working
lavoravano (loro) stavano they were working

The structure stare + gerund can also be used with the present or imperfect sub-
junctive of stare.
present: stia, stia, stia, stiamo, stiate, stiano + gerund of main verb
imperfect: stessi, stessi, stesse, stessimo, steste, stessero + gerund of main
verb