In italiano, quando si usa il presente e quando il gerundio?

Question

In English it is very common to use the present-conjugation of 'to be' plus the ing-gerund form of the verb to describe an action in progress.Ex: "I am talking to Tom".Would both of the following be correct?1) *Parlo con/a Tom*2) *Sto parlando con/a Tom*In contrast, if I wanted to say: "I talk to Tom", meaning that I am not currently talking to him, but on occasion we talk with each other, how would you differentiate that from *Parlo con Tom*?This is just an example using one verb, but I would like to know when either case is more appropriate.

Answer 1

The main difference between present progressive usage in english and italian is that in Italian is normally used to express an action going on at the time we write it, while in english is commonly used instead of future

sto andando a Roma=I am going to Roma NOW

Tomorrow I am going to Rome(present progressive-Domani vado a Roma (present-the action is moved on by the adverb DOMANI in a present term)

Overall you need to consider that in english many exceptions are allowed as spoken and written language are getting closer and closer while in Italian things allowed in the spoken language are CAPUT in the written one, which is a very formal way to communicate.