essere and stare - VERBS - Easy Learning Italian Grammar

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)
(lei/Lei)

è

sta

he/she/it is
you are

(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.