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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