Another peculiarity of the language is the use of the phrase eser drìo (a) (literally, "behind to") to indicate continuing action:
Italian: Mio padre sta parlando ("My father is speaking").
Venetian: Mé pare 'l xe drìo(invià) parlàr (lit. "My father he is busy speaking").
Indeed the word drio=busy/engaged also appears in other sentences:
Venetian: So' drio i mistieri lit. means "I am busy doing the housework" (=I'm doing it)
Venetian: Vo drio i mistieri lit. means "I go busy with the housework" (=I'm going to do it)
Venetian: Mé pare l'è in leto drio (invià) dormir lit. means "My father is in bed, busy sleeping" (=My father is sleeping in bed)
Another progressive form uses the construction "essar là che" (lit. "to be there that"):
Venetian: Me pàre 'l è là che 'l parla (lit. "My father he is there that he speaks").
The use of progressive tenses is more pervasive than in Italian; E.g.
English: "He wouldn't possibly have been speaking to you".
Venetian: No 'l sarìa mìa stat/stà drìo parlarte (lit. "Not-he would possibly have been behind to speak-to-you").
That construction does not occur in Italian: *Non sarebbe mica stato parlandoti is not syntactically valid.
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