Essere and stare: Italian grammar lesson 30

Start here

You’ll receive my free resources together with my best offers! Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

Essere or stare?

Before we go into more details, let’s quickly review the conjugation of both verbs:

  • essere: io sono, tu sei, lui/lei è, noi siamo, voi siete, loro sono.
  • stare: io sto, tu stai, lui/lei sta, noi stiamo, voi state, loro stanno.

For now, just have a look at some sentences and see if you can tell the difference:

Laura è molto intelligente.

Laura is very intelligent.

Loro sono spagnole.

They are Spanish.

Mia mamma non sta bene.

My mum is not feeling well.

Sto facendo i compiti.

I’m doing my homework.

Essere stare to be difference

How to use essere + an adjective?

1. Essere can be used to express someone’s feelings, personality, and physical characteristics.

This is why we need an adjective that, as you might already know, must agree with the subject regarding gender and number.

Perché sei triste?

Why are you sad? 

Maria e Letizia sono molto alte.

Maria and Letizia are very tall.

Mia sorella è molto furba.

My sister is very cunning.

2. Essere can also be used to describe something’s condition or quality.

Il computer è nuovo.

The computer is new.

Quella penna è blu?

Is that pen blue?

3. Essere can also be used to talk about someone’s nationality, religion, ethnicity, ideology, origin, and identity.

Mio papà è turco.

My dad is Turkish.

Karim è arabo.

Karim is an Arab.

Stare essere difference

How to use essere an a location?

Essere can also be used to express where someone or something is.

Sei in Argentina?

Are you in Argentina?

Io sono a Barcellona.

I’m in Barcellona.

Stare essere to be

How to use stare + an adverb?

Stare is used to ask or express how someone is feeling. In the latter case, it is followed by an adverb like bene, male, meglio, etc.

A: Come stai?
A: How are you?

B: Sto molto meglio, grazie.
B: I’m much better, thanks.

Essere stare difference

Practice with Quizlet

Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.

How to use stare + gerund?

Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

We also use stare to form the present continuous. Stare is followed by a gerund, a word that ends in -ndo (the equivalent of   -ing words in English) like mangiando, correndo, leggendo, etc.

A: Cosa state facendo?
A: What are you doing?

B: Io sto guardando la TV e Marco sta cucinando.
B: I’m watching TV and Marco is cooking.

Essere stare to be

Stare can also be used to express the imminence of an action or event, as in it’s about to rain.

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!

FAQs on Essere and stare: Italian grammar lesson 30

Stefano

Italian language tutor, course author, and polyglot. After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking. With my method, you'll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.

Follow me to fluency​

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! 

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

3 Responses

  1. Stare can also be used to express the imminence of an action or event, as in “it’s about to rain”.

    How is the expression formed in this case? Sta piovendo means it’s raining (already). Thanks!

Leave a Reply

Share:

Still translating in your head?

Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano’s courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
[mwai_chatbot_v2 id="support"]
Try my courses
for free​
ripeti con me mockup sm

Let me show you around

How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.