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Futuro molto prossimo
What’s about to happen? You can explain what will happen in the very near future with the construction stare per + infinitive, the Italian equivalent of "to be about to do."*
To use il futuro molto prossimo, conjugate stare in the present tense according to the subject, then follow it with per and the infinitive of the action verb.
Per esempio…
| L’aereo sta per atterrare. | The plane is about to land. | |
| Sto per chiamare mio padre. | I’m about to call my dad. | |
| Stiamo per partire per la spiaggia. | We’re about to leave for the beach. |
Near Future in the Past
Stare can also be used in the imperfect to say "was/were about to do" something.
Per esempio…
| L’aereo stava per atterrare. | The plane was about to land. | |
| Stavo per chiamare mio padre. | I was about to call my dad. | |
| Stavamo per partire per la spiaggia. | We were about to leave for the beach. |
* In English (and French and Spanish), the near future is more flexible. We can say "I’m going to leave tomorrow" (Je vais partir demain / Voy a partir mañana) but this construction does not exist in Italian (Vado a partire domani). The closest equivalent is stare per fare. Like "to be about to do," this construction can only be used when
- the action is imminent
and - the time/day/date is not specified
Otherwise, you need either the future tense or, in some cases, the present tense.
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