37. To Be or To Stay? (Intermediate) Learn Italian with Podcasts at LearnItalianPod

37. To Be or To Stay? (Intermediate)

April 15th, 2007

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To Be or To Stay? - Essere o Stare?

Learn Italian with Podcasts! Today’s episode is inspired by an email that we recently got from one of our listeners — that’s Gary from New York, grazie Gary! — in the email, Gary suggested us to create a story that explains when and why the verb “stare”, “to stay” is used versus the verb “essere”, “to be”. — Ottima idea, Gary! Oggi vedremo la differenza tra il verbo essere e il verbo stare. Enjoy!

Intermediate Level - Lesson Nr. 37

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 15th, 2007 at 2:02 pm and is filed under Intermediate. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to "37. To Be or To Stay? (Intermediate)"

Georgia Says:

April 15th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

Thanks for this episode - Now when I hear “Io sono bene” I know why is wrong!

Dante Says:

April 15th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

Good ripasso! …but i have a question, what are the different ways to say “was”?….

another good episode!

Damyanti Says:

April 16th, 2007 at 4:58 am

Hi,
Your podcasts have helped me immensely. I am studying Italian at the Italian Institute of Culture in Singapore.

I was hoping you could do a podcast on when to use avere and when to use essere, when describing the passato prossimo….for example, “io ho parlato”, but “sono andata”.

Thanks and regards,
Damyanti

Dave Says:

April 19th, 2007 at 5:38 am

Congratulations Jane e Massimo. This lesson is the 100th episode according to the numbers listed under Categories. What an amazing achievement. Thank you for using technology like this to share your knowledge and help others, thank you for making all the lessons fun, and of course, thank you so much for helping me take my Italian to the next level. I can’t wait for the next hundred, although that would mean I need to wait two more years! Mamma mia!

Thank you learnitalianpod, un caro abbraccio.

LearnItalianPod.com Says:

April 20th, 2007 at 9:30 am

Grazie Dave - un abbraccio a te da Jane & Massimo!

Elisabetta Says:

February 16th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

“Gary suggested us to create a story…”

This is a grammatical mistake I encounter often among Italians. You cannot say “suggested + indirect object.” You suggest something to someone. But in this case, it would be better to say “Gary suggested that we create a story…” It’s understood that he made this suggestion to you.

Saluti!

Lionel Friedman Says:

October 26th, 2009 at 4:46 pm

Is not the distiction between ‘essere’ and ’stare’ that essere denotes a permanent state of being, e.g. io sono Massimo, lui e’ uno studente, while stare denotes a temporary state, per esempio ‘ io sto bene’ ( I wil not always be well), ‘io sto in casa’ ?

LearnItalianPod.com Says:

November 17th, 2009 at 11:19 pm

Lionel, essere means “to be” or “to exist”, while stare usually means “to stay” but can be used where English idiomatics use “to be”. Your explanation can be used as general rule, but essere can denote a temporary state of being, for example “sono stanco” (I’m tired), “sono in casa” (I’m inside the house), etc.

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