Lesson #1: Essere vs Stare

This is part of the lessons I made last year when I taught Italian at the beginning of the pandemic! Enjoy!

Benvenuti! I hope you have been enjoying the more contemporary resources that are already available, but if your learning style is more textbook, these are the type of lessons for you!

Let's get into it!

So, the verbs essere and stare both mean the same thing; to be. Now, the difference is that essere is more permanent whereas stare is more temporary.....of course there's always exceptions to every rule though.

For those of you that speak Spanish, the equivalent would be ser (essere) and estar (stare).

The way you would use essere would be to describe something that doesn't change, like:

• Your nationality

• Gender

• Where you are originally from

• Character traits, certain emotions and physical traits (being nice, generous, ex)

The exception to this rule is when saying you're

• Tired

• Hungry

• Wanting

You would say these in the way that you have these things, so you "have hunger" or "have the want"...

• I'm tired = Ho sonno

• I'm hungry = Ho fame

• I want to do this = Ho voglia di fare questo

Now, let's test out how essere would be written in sentences, using these rules.

• I am Italian = Sono Italiana

• You are a girl = Sei una ragazza

• He is from France = È dalla Francia

• You guys are nice = Siete gentili

The way you would use stare, however, is to describe something that does change, like:

• Mood

• Precise location

• Agreeing with something

• Commands

Stare would be written in sentences, just like this.

• How is he? = Sta bene

• Where are the keys? = Dove stanno le chiavi?

• I'm in! = Ci sto!

• Shut up! = Stai zitto!

BONUS: Where are you going? Dove stai andando?

When saying where you are going, you would use stare. When saying where you already went, you would use essere.

Vi voglio bene,

Meli