Mastering Italian Past Tenses with the Passato Progressivo

Formation:

To form the passato progressivo, use stare in the imperfetto tense, followed by the gerundio (the -ing form of the verb).

The confusion between the passato progressivo and the imperfetto in Italian stems from the fact that the passato progressivo is not officially recognized as a distinct tense in most grammar books, yet it is commonly used in conversation. Let’s clarify why.

Imperfect (Imperfetto)

io

stavo

Stavo studiando (I was studying)