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B1 Multiple choice Grammar

The past progressive with the gerund

by Alessio · teacher of Italian as a foreign language, ITALS master’s

Practise Italian: The past progressive with the gerund. Multiple-choice quiz, with answers.

What's in this exercise

“The past progressive with the gerund” is an Italian exercise at B1 level. The full content is below in Italian, with the English translation: read it before you start, or use it to check your answers.

Content, solutions and the English translation (5)
___ dormendo quando hai chiamato.I ___ sleeping when you called.
StavoI was
Lei ___ studiando quando è arrivato Marco.She ___ studying when Marco arrived.
stavashe was
Noi ___ mangiando quando è iniziato a piovere.We ___ eating when it started to rain.
stavamowe were
Loro ___ guardando la TV quando sono usciti.They ___ watching TV when they went out.
stavanothey were
Tu cosa ___ facendo alle otto ieri sera?What ___ you doing at eight last night?
staviyou were

Stare all'imperfetto + gerundio

Per descrivere un'azione in corso nel passato, si usa l'imperfetto di stare + gerundio.

Esempio: Stavo dormendo quando hai chiamato.

Padroneggiare questo argomento ti aiuta ad affrontare conversazioni più articolate e argomentare le tue opinioni. Questo esercizio allena la coniugazione e l'uso corretto dei verbi, uno dei pilastri della grammatica italiana.

Questo argomento fa parte del livello intermedio del QCER, la soglia in cui si inizia a comunicare con reale autonomia in italiano.

Prima di rispondere, prova a spiegare a te stesso perché le altre opzioni sono sbagliate: capire l'errore è spesso più istruttivo che indovinare la risposta giusta.

Grammar, explained while you use it

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Frequently asked questions

What do you practise in “The past progressive with the gerund”?
A B1 exercise on “The past progressive with the gerund”, with the answer to every item.
Are there answers?
Yes: the exercise shows you straight away what is right and what is not. All the solutions are also listed below, under “Content, solutions and the English translation”.
What level is this exercise?
B1 level. Not sure about your level? The free level test tells you in ten minutes.