Italian Verb to Be
Essere is one of two Italian verbs that can mean "to be."* It’s the most common verb in the Italian language, used to describe many aspects of being:
| Sono Laura. |
|
I’m Laura. |
| Quest'uomo è un medico. |
|
This man is a doctor. |
| Sono tedesco. |
|
I’m German. |
| Siete di Venezia? |
|
Are you from Venice? |
| È mio fratello. |
|
He’s my brother. |
| Questa è la mia macchina. |
|
That’s my car. |
4) Descriptions (physical, mental, material)
| Sono alti. |
|
They are tall. |
| Francesca è intelligente. |
|
Francesca is smart. |
| Questo cuscino è di velluto. |
|
This cushion is (made of) velvet. |
| Siamo malati. |
|
We’re sick. |
| Sei stanco? |
|
Are you tired? |
6) Time and date
| Sono le 15:00. |
|
It’s 3 pm. |
| È il 10 settembre. |
|
It’s September 10. |
7) "To exist"
| Essere o non essere, questo è il dilemma. |
|
To be or not to be, that is the question. |
| Non c’è dubbio. |
|
There is (exists) no doubt. |
8) Compound tenses
Essere can also serve as the auxiliary verb in compound tenses and moods like the passato prossimo.
Essere present tense conjugations
| io |
sono |
|
noi |
siamo |
| tu |
sei |
|
voi |
siete |
| lui, lei |
è |
|
loro |
sono |
Note that the io and loro conjugations are identical. Since Italian is pro-drop, you have to rely on context to let you know who the subject is, but this is rarely a problem as it’s usually obvious. If you’re concerned that it’s not, you can use the subject pronoun to make sure there’s no confusion.
* The other is stare. We’ll compare the two in detail in a future lesson.
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