| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Paolo (pause with a tap of the finger) studiando in camera sua. |
| Paolo (pause with a tap of the finger) studiando in camera sua. |
| Sta |
| Sta |
| Paolo sta studiando in camera sua. |
| Paolo sta studiando in camera sua. |
| "Paolo is studying in his room." |
| We choose sta because the subject Paolo is singular "he," and sta is the 3rd-person singular of stare. |
| Note that sua agrees with camera (feminine singular), not the person's gender, and studiando is the gerund showing the action is in progress. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Dove (pause with a tap of the finger) giocando Asia e le sue amiche? |
| Dove (pause with a tap of the finger) giocando Asia e le sue amiche? |
| stanno |
| stanno |
| Dove stanno giocando Asia e le sue amiche? |
| Dove stanno giocando Asia e le sue amiche? |
| "Where are Asia and her friends playing?" |
| We choose stanno because the subject Asia e le sue amiche is plural "they," and stanno is the 3rd-person plural of stare. It combines with the gerund giocando to show the action in progress. Sta 3rd-person singular and sto 1st-person singular would be correct only with singular subjects. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Io (pause with a tap of the finger) leggendo un libro interessante. |
| Io (pause with a tap of the finger) leggendo un libro interessante. |
| sto |
| sto |
| Io sto leggendo un libro interessante. |
| Io sto leggendo un libro interessante. |
| "I'm reading an interesting book." |
| We choose sto because the subject is Io "I" and sto is the 1st-person singular of stare; the pattern is stare + gerundio, so sto + leggendo expresses an action in progress. Sta is 3rd-person singular lui/lei and stanno is 3rd-person plural loro, so they don't match Io. |
| Unscramble the words to make a sentence. |
| Ready? |
| Stanno |
| Stanno giocando |
| Stanno giocando al |
| Stanno giocando al parco. |
| "They are playing at the park." |
| Stanno giocando al parco. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| Stai (guardendo or guardando) un film italiano? |
| Stai (guardendo or guardando) un film italiano? |
| guardando |
| guardando |
| Stai guardando un film italiano? |
| "Are you watching an Italian movie?" |
| Guardando is used here because it's the gerund form of the verb guardare "to watch." To form the gerund of verbs ending in -are, you replace -are with -ando. So, guardare becomes guardando. |
| Guardendo is incorrect because it doesn't follow any Italian gerund formation rules—it's not a valid word in Italian. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| I bambini stanno (dormando or dormendo) adesso. |
| I bambini stanno (dormando or dormendo) adesso. |
| dormendo |
| dormendo |
| I bambini stanno dormendo adesso. |
| "The children are sleeping now." |
| Dormendo is correct because it's the gerund form of dormire (to sleep). For verbs ending in -ire, the gerund is made by replacing -ire with -endo. So, dormire becomes dormendo. |
| Dormando is incorrect because verbs ending in -ire do not take the -ando ending—that's only for -are verbs. |
| Let's translate some sentences into Italian. |
| Translate "We are studying for tomorrow's exam." into Italian. |
| Noi, the subject pronoun, meaning "we," |
| followed by |
| stiamo, the present tense of stare for noi, meaning "we are," |
| next |
| studiando, the gerund form of studiare, meaning "studying," |
| followed by |
| per, a preposition meaning "for," |
| next |
| l'esame di domani, meaning "tomorrow's exam." |
| Italian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person; here, stiamo already means "we," so Noi is optional and mainly used for emphasis or contrast. |
| Noi stiamo studiando per l'esame di domani. |
| or Stiamo studiando per l'esame di domani. |
| Noi stiamo studiando per l'esame di domani. |
| "We are studying for tomorrow's exam." |
| Translate "Luca is listening to music in the living room." into Italian. |
| Luca, the subject, a proper name, |
| followed by |
| sta, the present tense of stare for lui, meaning "he is," |
| next |
| ascoltando, the gerund form of ascoltare, meaning "listening," |
| followed by |
| la musica, meaning "the music," |
| next |
| in salotto, meaning "in the living room." |
| Luca sta ascoltando la musica in salotto. |
| Luca sta ascoltando la musica in salotto. |
| "Luca is listening to music in the living room." |
| Translate "Marta and Giulia are preparing dinner." into Italian. |
| Marta e Giulia, the subject, meaning "Marta and Giulia," |
| followed by |
| stanno, the present tense of stare for loro, meaning "they are," |
| next |
| preparando, the gerund form of preparare, meaning "preparing," |
| followed by |
| la cena, meaning "the dinner." |
| Marta e Giulia stanno preparando la cena. |
| Marta e Giulia stanno preparando la cena. |
| "Marta and Giulia are preparing dinner." |
| Listen to me as I speak. Which form of stare is used in the sentences? |
| Paolo sta studiando in camera sua. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| Paolo sta studiando in camera sua. |
| Did you hear, sta? |
| Sta is the third person singular form of the verb stare. |
| How about...? |
| Stanno giocando al parco. |
| Let's listen one more time. |
| Stanno giocando al parco. |
| Did you hear, stanno? |
| Stanno is the third person plural form of stare. So this sentence means "They are playing at the park." |
| Next… |
| Stai guardando un film italiano? |
| One more time. |
| Stai guardando un film italiano? |
| Did you hear, stai? |
| Stai is the second person singular form of stare. So this sentence means "Are you watching an Italian movie?" |
| And... |
| Noi stiamo studiando per l'esame di domani. |
| One more time. |
| Noi stiamo studiando per l'esame di domani. |
| Did you hear, stiamo? |
| Stiamo is the first person plural form of stare. So this sentence means "We are studying for tomorrow's exam." |
| Thank you for watching. |
| Now you know how to talk about what someone is doing in Italian. |
| ...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway. |
| A presto! |
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