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Here are some videos that clearly explain the differences between these 2 very common Italian verbs. Their  meaning is (in general):

Essere = to be

 

Stare = to stay/to be

But this is their basic meaning, you have to learn how to use them correctly in the videos below: 

The easiest rule of thumb, even if it’s not all is to associate the meaning of “stare” with the English verb “to stay”.

Conjugation of These 2 Common Italian Verbs

The Present Tense of To Be in Italian

Learn To Be in Italian with Nek

Here you can learn an important Italian verb conjugation: the present tense of “essere” (to be).

Play the video and listen to “Cielo e terra”, a fine song by the Italian singer Nek. Try to sing along by scrolling the text in the window below, and… have fun!

Scrivo il tuo nome senza il mio, oggi nel giorno dell’addio,
I write your name without the mine, today in the farewell day,
anche se inevitabile, mi chiedo ancora adesso:
even if it’s inevitable, I’m asking myself still now:
“Sono pronto a perderti, a rinunciare a te?”
“Am I ready to lose you, to give up you?”

Ma se ti guardo sento che sei spaventata come me,
But if I look at you I see that you are afraid like me,
Poteva essere e non è, poteva essere e il mio ricordo naviga,
It could be and it is not, it could be and my memory’s sailing,
attraversa l’anima e improvvisamente sono là ancora…
goes across my soul and suddenly I’m there again…

Quando eravamo cielo e terra e tu di me la mia metà,
When we were sky and earth and you were half me,
in ogni dubbio e in ogni verità, quando avevamo la stessa pelle,
in every doubt and in every truth, when we had the same skin,
la stessa luce nel corpo e nell’anima.
the same light on the body and in the soul.

Senza respiro cerco te, senza respiro e sento che
Without breathing I’m searching for you and I know that
Non c’è un colpevole lo sai, nè un innocente solo
there’s not only one person guilty, nor only one innocent people
e ancora per un attimo tra noi lo stesso battito,
and for one more moment, there’s the same heartbeat between us,
quell’impressione che di nuovo sia ancora una volta.
that feeling that everything will be one more time.

Quando eravamo cielo e terra e tu di me la mia metà,
When we were sky and earth and you were half me,
in ogni dubbio e in ogni verità, in ogni sguardo,
in every doubt and in every truth, in every look,
quando avevamo la stessa pelle, la stessa luce nel corpo e nell’anima.
when we had the same skin, the same light on the body and in the soul.

Così mentre io ti guardo andare via, senza mai voltarti,
And so while I look at you going away, without never turning back,
non riesco a non sentirti mia e, e stare senza te…
I can’t feel you are not mine and, and stay without you…

E dimenticare ogni parola che mi dicevi, ogni tuo gesto di libertà,
And forget every word you said to me, every freedom gesture of yours
perché tutto questo è già di ieri ormai,
because all this belongs to yesterday by now,
quando eravamo noi, quando eravamo noi…
when we were ourselves when we were ourselves…

The Past Tense of To Be in Italian

As you can see in the table below, the 2 verbs are exactly the same in the most common past tense used in Italian, the “passato prossimo” (simple past tense):

The Future Tense of To Be in Italian

Learn To Be in Italian with Giorgia

Here’s another fancy song to learn how to conjugate italian verb “essere” in the present tense through the song, “Gocce di Memoria”, by Giorgia:

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Conjugate the Common Italian Verbs Essere & Stare with the Italian Verbs Conjugator