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stare

to stay

verb STAH-reh Common
Body & Health Health & Illness

Also means

to be

Usage Note

Stare is one of Italian's two 'to be' verbs alongside essere. It expresses temporary states, location, and health (come stai? = 'how are you?'). Crucially, the progressive tense is formed with stare + gerund: sto mangiando ('I am eating'). It takes essere as auxiliary in compound tenses (sono stato).

Examples

"Sto bene, grazie."

Natural Translation

I'm doing well, thank you.

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