Italiano — Andare/venire + gerund
Besides stare, Italian uses andare and venire with the gerund to express a slow, progressive change: la situazione va migliorando presents an action unfolding step by step, not a single moment.
How it works
The auxiliary (andare or venire) is conjugated and the main verb stays in the gerund. Andare + gerund stresses the ongoing, accumulating progression (il problema si va aggravando); venire + gerund frames the same gradual development as advancing toward the present, often from an earlier starting point (il quadro si viene delineando). With a reflexive verb the pronoun usually clings to the auxiliary: si va diffondendo.
Examples
| Construction | Example | Value / use |
|---|---|---|
| va + gerundio | La situazione va migliorando. | Gradual, step-by-step change in progress |
| andava + gerundio | Andava ripetendo sempre le stesse cose. | Repeated, insistent action stretched over time |
| si va + gerundio | Il problema si va aggravando. | Reflexive verb: worsening builds up progressively |
| si viene + gerundio | Il quadro si viene delineando. | Gradual emergence advancing toward the present |
| venivano + gerundio | Le sue tesi venivano maturando da anni. | Development unfolding from an earlier starting point |
| vengono + gerundio | I costi vengono aumentando di mese in mese. | Steady, cumulative increase over time |
Good to know
These are formal, largely written constructions: for the everyday progressive, use stare + gerundio (la situazione sta migliorando). Do not treat andare + gerundio as a plain "be doing" — it often adds a nuance of insistence or irritation, so va dicendo che... means "he keeps going around saying that...", not simply "he is saying". Venire + gerundio is rarer still and feels literary.