Essere VS stare: Two Verbs That Confuse a Lot of Learners
Learn Italian with Joy of Languages
Joy of Languages
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Italian, there are two verbs that mean “to be”: essere and stare. When should you use each one? Find out in this simple guide!
Learn about our Online Italian School and get a free mini lesson every week: https://joyoflanguages.online/italian-school
Subscribe to our new Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@joyoflanguages.italian?sub_confirmation=1
Get the bonus materials for this episode: https://italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast/essere-vs-stare
Today's Italian words:
Sono felice = I'm happy
Sono italiano = I'm Italian (m)
Sono alto = I'm tall (m)
Sono qui = I'm here
Sto bene = I’m well
Sto male = I’m not well, literally “I’m bad”
Sto meglio = I’m better
Stare con le persone = to spend time with people, literally “to stay with people”
Stare con la famiglia = to spend time with the family, literally “to stay with the family”
Stare zitto = to be quiet, to shut up
Stare fermo = to stay still
Stare attento = to pay attention, literally “to stay attentive”
Stare calmo = to stay calm
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ciao. We are now in January, January, which is a great time to start or get back into learning |
| 0:07.2 | Italian with a bit of new year motivation. We're re-releasing this episode that we hope will be |
| 0:12.7 | helpful if you're going to Italy this year or any time you want to be able to improve your |
| 0:17.1 | ability to get by in Italian. This way, we can make sure you still get an Italian lesson |
| 0:21.6 | while we're busy welcoming new students to our online Italian school. |
| 0:25.6 | If you'd like to learn more about how to join us next term, |
| 0:29.6 | click the link in the description. |
| 0:31.6 | Should I use Esere or Stare? |
| 0:35.6 | If you've been learning Italian for a little while, |
| 0:38.7 | you might have come across these two important verbs |
| 0:41.5 | and found yourself wondering which one to use. |
| 0:45.0 | That's because in English, |
| 0:46.5 | they can both be translated as to be. |
| 0:49.9 | But be careful because they're not always interchangeable. |
| 0:54.1 | So what's the difference? |
| 0:55.6 | Find out in this episode. |
| 1:10.5 | Hi everyone and welcome to learn Italian with joy of languages. |
| 1:14.9 | I'm Katie. |
| 1:15.7 | And I'm Matteo. |
| 1:16.9 | Ciao. |
| 1:17.9 | To be or not to be. |
| 1:20.3 | In today's case, maybe the question should be to be or to stay. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joy of Languages, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Joy of Languages and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.