Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
VERBS
4. essere and stare
In Italian there are two irregular verbs, essere and stare, that both mean to be. In the present tense they follow the patterns shown below:
Pronoun |
essere |
stare |
Meaning: to be |
(io) |
sono |
sto |
I am |
(tu) |
sei |
stai |
you are |
(lui/lei) |
è |
sta |
he/she/it is |
(noi) |
siamo |
stiamo |
we are |
(voi) |
siete |
state |
you are |
(loro) |
sono |
stanno |
they are |
essere is the verb generally used to translate to be:
Cosa sono? |
What are they? |
È italiana. |
She’s Italian. |
Sono io. |
It’s me. |
È un problema. |
It’s a problem. |
Siete pronti? |
Are you ready? |
However, stare is used for to be in some common contexts:
to say or ask how someone is
Come stai? |
How are you? |
Sto bene, grazie. |
I’m fine thanks. |
Mio nonno sta male. |
My grandfather isn’t well. |
to say where someone is
Luigi sta a casa. |
Luigi’s at home. |
Starò a Roma due giorni. |
I’ll be in Rome for two days. |
to say where something is situated
La casa sta sulla collina. |
The house is on the hill. |
with the adjectives zitto and solo
Vuole stare solo. |
He wants to be alone. |
Sta’ zitto! |
Be quiet! |
to make continuous tenses
Sta studiando. |
He’s studying. |
Stavo andando a casa. |
I was going home. |
For more information on the Present continuous, see page 81.
Key points
essere is generally used to translate to be.
stare is used to talk about health, where people and things are and with some adjectives.
stare is also used to make continuous tenses.