To learn Stare Conjugation can be very useful for you if you want to master Italian language because the verb stare is widely used in Italy.
In fact, after essere and avere, the verb stare is the third most popular verb. If you have already learnt the first two, good job: now it’s time to learn the verb stare!
The verb stare literally means to stay, to be in a place (without moving) or to be in a particular condition, but also to live in a place or to be in a relationship. Depending on the situation, it can be translated as: to be, to remain, to stand, to be situated, to sit. Related words to stare are restare (remain), sottostare (submit to someone) and sovrastare (dominate someone). Also, to express what you are doing at the moment, it is used the verb stare and the Italian Gerund.
Usually the students don’t like to study stare conjugation because it’s irregular. But if you want to speak Italian fluently you have to learn all irregular verbs, including stare! Note also that another difficulty is that the verb stare can be confused with the verb essere. If you want to learn what is the difference between essere and stare check this article out carefully.
So, as you have seen, stare it’s a pretty important verb. Now it’s time to learn how to conjugate it:
Stare Conjugation – Presente
As we mentioned before, the verb stare is irregular. We already know what to do in that case. We should learn the conjugation stare by heart, because it’s not following generic rules of the tense.
| Io sto |
| Tu stai |
| Lui/ Lei sta |
| Noi stiamo |
| Voi state |
| Loro stanno |
The present tense (or simply ‘the present’) is used to state that an action is occurring at the present time. Same as in English.
Let’s see some examples:
Come stai?
How are you?
Sto bene, grazie.
I’m fine thanks.
Mio nonno sta male.
My grandfather isn’t well.
Stefano sta a casa.
Stefano is at home.
La casa sta sulla collina
The house is on the hill.
You may need one of this vocabulary in order to repeat Italian Verbs:
Stare Conjugation – Passato Prossimo
| Io sono stato/a |
| Tu sei stato/a |
| Lui/lei è stato/a |
| Noi siamo stati/e |
| Voi siete stati/e |
| Loro sono stati/e |
Passato Prossimo is the tense we use to talk about actions we did in the recent past. It’s the main past tense in Italian. It’s compound, which means that you’ll need to use the auxiliary verb essere or avere and past participle. In this case we will use the auxiliary verb essere because stare is an intransitive verb.
Examples:
Sono stata a Napoli due settimane fa.
I was in Naples two weeks ago.
Siamo stati molto preoccupati per voi.
We have been very concerned about you.
Don’t forget to modify past participles according to the gender and number of the subject!
Stare Conjugation – Imperfetto
| Io stavo |
| Tu stavi |
| Lui/lei stava |
| Noi stavamo |
| Voi stavate |
| Loro stavano |
If you want to describe something in the past, talk about feelings or habits in the past you’ll need Imperfetto.
Examples:
Stavo per uscire quando mi ha detto che dovevamo parlare.
I was about to leave when he said we needed to talk.
Quando sono entrato in ufficio, lei non stava scrivendo la mail.
When I entered the office, she wasn’t writing the email.
Che stavate facendo?
What were you doing?
Stare Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo
| Io ero stato/a |
| Tu eri stato/a |
| Lui/lei era stato/a |
| Noi eravamo stati/e |
| Voi eravate stati/e |
| Loro erano stati/e |
Another compound tense you have to know is Trapassato prossimo. You’ll need this tense when talking about an event that happened in the past before another event in the past.
Examples:
Non ero mai stato in Francia prima.
I had never been to France before.
Ricordi quando eravamo stati in quell’albergo?
Remember when we had stayed at that hotel?
Ieri sei andata alla Galleria degli Uffizi, non ci eri mai stata prima e ti è piaciuta un sacco.
Yesterday you went to the Uffizi Gallery, you had never been there before and you loved it.
Stare Conjugation – Passato Remoto
| Io stetti |
| Tu stesti |
| Lui/lei stette |
| Noi stemmo |
| Voi steste |
| Loro stettero |
What perhaps confuses students the most is choosing the appropriate past tense. Maybe there are a lot of past tenses in italian language, but there is one you don’t have to worry about. It’s Passato Remoto. This tense is mainly used in literature and in the written language, and almost not used while speaking.
Examples:
Nel capanno stemmo tutta la notte.
In a shed we stood all night long.
Da quel giorno in poi, stettero in contatto l’uno con l’altro durante il corso degli anni successivi.
From that day forward, they stayed in touch with each other over the next few years.
Steste qualche mese insieme.
You were a few months together.
Stare Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto
| Io fui stato/a |
| Tu fosti stato/a |
| Lui/lei fu stato/a |
| Noi fummo stati/e |
| Voi foste stati/e |
| Loro furono stati/e |
If stare conjugation in Trapassato Remoto stirs you up, don’t worry! This is the rarest tense in Italian language. You’ll encounter Trapassato Remoto only if you are a bookworm and you want to dive into italian literature.
Stare Conjugation – Futuro Semplice
| Io starò |
| Tu starai |
| Lui/lei starà |
| Noi staremo |
| Voi starete |
| Loro staranno |
On the other hand, Futuro Semplice is quite an important tense. There is no tomorrow without this tense, so don’t miss it! Futuro Semplice is used to describe a future event.
Examples:
Non so ancora quanto tempo starò a Napoli
I don’t know yet how long I will stay in Naples.
Ti starà accanto tutta la serata.
He’ll be by your side all night.
Se domani piove, staremo a casa.
If it rains tomorrow, we’ll stay home.
Stare Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore
| Io sarò stato/a |
| Tu sarai stato/a |
| Lui/lei sarà stato/a |
| Noi saremo stati/e |
| Voi sarete stati/e |
| Loro saranno stati/e |
A future action can also be expressed with Futuro Anteriore. But in this case the action will happen before the Futuro Semplice. Also, we use this tense to express an assumption.
Let’s see some examples:
Il giorno in cui sarà stata a Firenze, le scriverò.
I’m going to write to her once she has arrived in Florence.
Sarò stato un bambino, la prima volta in cui ho visto una partita.
I must have been a kid the first time I watched a game.
Perché Anna e Marco non c’erano alla festa? Saranno stati al lavoro.
Why weren’t Anna and Marco at the party? They must have been at work.
Do you know that in Italian there’s one tense you use when you want to express your opinion, uncertainty, hopes, and fears? Well, it’s Subjunctive Mood or Congiuntivo in italian. It usually comes after che.
Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente
| Che io stia |
| Che tu stia |
| Che lui/lei stia |
| Che noi stiamo |
| Che voi stiate |
| Che loro stiano |
Examples:
Penso che Anna non mi stia dicendo la verità.
I think Anna is not telling me the truth.
Sembra che stia soffrendo molto.
He seems to be in a lot of pain.
E’ bello che stiano leggendo quel libro insieme.
It’s nice that they’re reading that book together.
Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato
| Che io sia stato/a |
| Che tu sia stato/a |
| Che lui/lei sia stato/a |
| Che noi siamo stati/e |
| Che voi siate stati/e |
| Che loro siano stati/e |
Examples:
Penso che lui sia stato bravo in matematica.
I think he was good at math.
Non credo che siano stati molto felici all’estero.
I don’t think they were very happy abroad.
Spero che non sia stato un’incidente grave.
I hope it wasn’t a serious accident.
Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto
| Che io stessi |
| Che tu stessi |
| Che lui/lei stesse |
| Che noi stessimo |
| Che voi steste |
| Che loro stessero |
Examples:
Vorrei che tu non stessi per partire.
I wish you weren’t leaving.
Pensavo che stessimo andando al supermercato.
I thought we were going to the grocery store.
Credo di sapere dove stessero andando.
I think I knew where they were going.
Stare Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato
| Che io fossi stato/a |
| Che tu fossi stato/a |
| Che lui/lei fosse stato/a |
| Che noi fossimo stati/e |
| Che voi foste stati/e |
| Che loro fossero stati/e |
Examples:
Mi avevi detto di chiamarti, se fossi stato in città.
You told me to call you if I was in town.
Se fossimo stati come loro, avremmo vinto la guerra.
If we had been like them, we would have won the war.
Come se fossimo stati sposati un milione di anni fa.
Like we were married a million years ago.
Stare Conjugation – Condizionale Presente
| Io starei |
| Tu staresti |
| Lui/lei starebbe |
| Noi staremmo |
| Voi stareste |
| Loro starebbero |
When you want to express polite requests, advice, wishes or regret, use Condizionale in italian. In English we use would + verb for the same reason.
Examples:
E comunque staresti bene anche con un sacchetto in testa.
And you’d look good with a bag over your head anyway.
Se avessero voluto aiutarci, non staremmo qui a parlarne adesso.
If they had wanted to help us, we wouldn’t be talking about it now.
Magari starei meglio con i nuovi amici.
Maybe I’d be better with new friends.
Stare Conjugation – Condizionale Passato
| Io sarei stato/a |
| Tu saresti stato/a |
| Lui/lei sarebbe stato/a |
| Noi saremmo stati/e |
| Voi sareste stati/e |
| Loro sarebbero stati/e |
Condizionale Passato is the same thing but in the past. It’s a compound tense, used with avere or essere in Condizionale plus past participle.
Examples:
Sarei stato un avvocato terribile.
I would have been a terrible lawyer.
Sapevo che sarebbe stato più difficile senza lui.
I knew it would be harder without him.
Senza te non sarei mai stato in grado di affrontarlo.
Without you I would never have been able to deal with it.
Stare Conjugation – Imperativo
| Sta’/stai (tu) |
| Stia (Lei) |
| Stiamo (Noi) |
| State (Voi) |
| Stiano (Loro) |
If you are a person who likes to give orders and instructions you’ll need Imperativo. We already mentioned that stare is an irregular verb, also here it has its own forms.
Examples:
Sta’ zitto, non sento nulla!
Shut up, I can’t hear anything!
State attenti, ragazzi! Questa lezione è importante!
Be careful, kids! This lesson is important!
Sta’ fermo e tieni in vista le mani.
Stand still and keep your hands in view.
Stare Conjugation – Infinito
| Present Tense | Past Tense |
| Stare | Esser stato |
Infinitive is the basic form of a verb. It can be in the present tense or in the past tense.
Examples:
Dobbiamo decidere dove stare a Palermo.
We have to decide where to stay in Palermo.
Il messaggio può esser stato frainteso.
The message may have been misunderstood.
Stare Conjugation – Participio
| Present Tense | Past Tense |
| Stante | Stato |
You probably won’t encounter Stante very often. On the other hand, Stato is already familiar to you, as the part of the compound tenses in all stare conjugations.
Examples:
Stante alle tue dichiarazioni mi aspetto un aumento di stipendio a partire dal prossimo mese.
According to your statements I expect a salary increase starting next month.
Mai stato così vicino a raggiungere l’obiettivo.
Never been so close to achieving the goal.
Stare Conjugation – Gerundio
| Present Tense | Past Tense |
| Stando | Essendo stato |
Examples:
Stando più attenti alle spese, risparmieremmo più soldi.
By being more careful about spending, we would save more money.
Essendo stato di recente in Francia, posso dirti che è bellissima.
Having recently been to France, I can tell you that it is beautiful.
8 Different Uses Of Stare In Italian
Stare is a very common verb in Italian. Literally can be translated as “to stay” but it has other meanings as well. On some occasions it also means “to be” (same as essere). This can be very confusing, so check out this article to clear up your mind.
Let’s see when we use the verb stare in italian:
1. To ask someone how is he or she:
Example:
Come stai? Sto bene, grazie.
How are you? I’m fine, thank you.
2. To indicate a location:
Examples:
Staremo in Italia questo weekend, ci visitate?
We are staying in Italy this weekend, are you visiting us?
La sede della società sta a Londra.
The company is headquartered in London.
3. To say what are you doing in this moment:
Examples:
Cosa stai facendo? Sto leggendo il libro.
What are you doing? I’m reading the book.
Stavo pulendo la casa quando mi ha chiamato
I was cleaning the house when he called me.
4. To talk about health:
Examples:
Oggi sto proprio male, non posso uscire.
Today I feel really bad, I can’t go out.
Ieri aveva la febbre ma oggi per fortuna sta meglio.
Yesterday he had a fever but today fortunately he is better.
5. As a synonym for the verbs to fit, to suit:
Examples:
Questo vestito ti sta benissimo.
This dress looks great on you.
Non sta più niente nella valigia, è piena!
Nothing more fits in the suitcase, it’s full!
6. To say “I’m in!”, to say that you agree to do something:
Examples:
Andiamo al mare domani? Certo, ci sto!
Are we going to the beach tomorrow? Sure, I’m in!
Ci stai a cenare insieme stasera?
Are you in for dinner tonight?
7. To be about to do something – stare + per + infinito:
Examples:
Sta per piovere.
It’s going to rain.
Sto per uscire, dammi le chiavi della macchina.
I’m about to leave, give me the car keys.
8. To say “leave it”:
Example:
Ti serve aiuto? Lascia stare, riposati pure.
Do you need help? It’s not necessary. Take a rest.
I also suggest to you these books to improve your vocabulary:
Italian Idioms With Stare
As we said before, the verb stare is very important in Italian language. Therefore, there are a lot of idiomatic expressions with this verb. Let’s see the most used ones:
- stare come le sardine – be crowded
- stare a bocca chiusa – keep quiet
- stare a cuore – care for
- stare a distanza – keep at a distance
- stare a pane e acqua – be living on bread and water
- stare al proprio posto – do your thing
- stare comodo – be at ease
- stare con i piedi per terra – be realistic
- stare con il cuore in gola – be anxious about
- stare con le orecchie tese – keep your ears open
- stare fuori dal mondo – be out of this world
- stare in gamba – keep doing well
- stare insieme – be in a relationship
- stare in guardia – be careful
Now when you read all the conjugations of stare, with all this in your mind, you will start to “stare comodo” with italian language, too.
Let’s repeat it all with music!
