A nice easy tense, but not as useful as it looks...

OK, today we start the next level in our free Italian lessons series, and man, is there some heavy grammar on the horizon…

I’ve therefore decided to start with something easy, partly because I’m in a holiday mood, and also so as not to put you off!

Today we’ll be looking at the Italian present progressive form – you know, ‘I am doing’ = ‘Sto facendo’.

Be warned, this form is much more common in English than it is in Italian, so is consequently much less useful than you’d imagine.

It’s easy to learn because it’s regular and looks similar to the English construction. But if you’re a native English speaker, you’ll likely over-use it.

Yes, it exists in Italian, and sure, it’s used (though in some regions of Italy more than in others…)

But the Italian present simple form is much more flexible than its English equivalent – it can be used in most situations – and that reduces the need for the progressive.

Why complicate life by choosing between two tenses if one will do just as well most of the time?

Here’s the link to today’s lesson: 13 The Present Progressive

You’ll also find it, along with the previous lessons in the series, on our Italian Lessons homepage.

P.S.

Don’t forget this week’s Book Of The Week, which has been going like hot cakes since it went on sale on Monday.

‘Uno studente in viaggio‘ is the story of Jean, a French student visiting Italy for the first time.

Follow his adventures, and misadventures, in this simplified reader: eight short chapters, each with a glossary, an exercise, and the audio available to listen to online as often as you wish!

If you haven’t already done so, download your free sample chapter (.pdf) to check that the format and level will work for you.

Then…