Essere means “to be.” It is the most irregular verb in Italian and also one of its two auxiliaries: it forms the compound tenses of verbs like andare, venire and partire, of every reflexive verb, and of the passive voice.
Infinitive
essere
English
to be
Auxiliary
essere
Past participle
stato
Gerund
essendo
Core irregular verb: essere has no single stem, so learn each tense as its own set. The present mixes four shapes: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Sono is both io and loro, and the subject or the context tells you which. The imperfect uses er- (ero, eri, era), the passato remoto and the imperfect subjunctive use fu- and fo- (fui, fu, furono; fossi, fosse), and the future and conditional use sar- (sarò, sarei). The present subjunctive is sia in all three singular persons, then siamo, siate, siano, and the tu imperative is sii. Write the accent on è (is): without it, e means “and.”
You use essere for who and what someone is (sono medico), where someone comes from (è di Torino), what something is like (la casa è grande), and for dates and times (sono le tre). With ci it gives the everyday c'è and ci sono, “there is” and “there are.” As an auxiliary it turns up in sentences that are not about being at all: sono uscito, ci siamo divertiti, il ponte è stato costruito nel Seicento. English speakers usually meet two traps early. Health and temporary states often take stare, not essere (sto bene), and age, hunger and cold take avere (ho freddo). Both distinctions have their own grammar pages; on this page the rule of thumb is that essere describes identity and lasting qualities.
Essere is its own auxiliary: sono stato, eravamo stati, sarà stata. Because the auxiliary is essere, the participle stato agrees with the subject in gender and number: Giulia è stata a Roma, i bambini sono stati bravi, le ragazze sono state gentili. The same participle stato belongs to stare, so sono stato can mean “I have been” or “I stayed,” depending on the sentence. Never use avere here: ho stato does not exist.
Essere in context
Presente:Sono americano, ma mia madre è di Napoli. (I'm American, but my mother is from Naples.)
Presente:C'è un problema con la prenotazione. (There is a problem with the booking.)
Passato Prossimo:Siete mai stati in Sicilia? (Have you ever been to Sicily?)
Imperfetto:Quando ero piccola, la casa dei nonni era sempre piena di gente. (When I was little, my grandparents' house was always full of people.)
Futuro Semplice:Che ore sono? Saranno le otto. (What time is it? It must be about eight.)
Congiuntivo Presente:Penso che sia una buona idea. (I think it's a good idea.)
Condizionale Presente:Sarebbe bello vederti più spesso. (It would be nice to see you more often.)
Congiuntivo Imperfetto:Se fossi in te, accetterei subito. (If I were you, I'd accept right away.)
Common expressions with essere
c'è / ci sono: there is / there are. C'è for one thing, ci sono for several: c'è un bar qui vicino, ci sono due farmacie.
essere d'accordo: to agree. Where English has a verb, Italian uses essere plus d'accordo: sono d'accordo con te, siamo d'accordo.
essere in ritardo: to be late
essere in grado di: to be able to, to be capable of. Non sono in grado di rispondere (I'm not able to answer).
essere al verde: to be broke
essere stufo di: to be fed up with. Stufo agrees with the subject: sono stufa di aspettare.
Common mistakes
Sono stato a Firenze l'anno scorso., not Ho stato a Firenze l'anno scorso. (I was in Florence last year.). Essere takes essere as its auxiliary, and the participle agrees with the subject: a woman says sono stata. Italian also uses sono stato a for visits where English often says “I went to.”
Ho venticinque anni., not Sono venticinque anni. (I'm twenty-five.). Italian gives age with avere: you “have” your years. The same goes for hunger, thirst, heat and cold: ho fame, ho sete, ho caldo, ho freddo.
Ciao Anna, come stai?, not Ciao Anna, come sei? (Hi Anna, how are you?). Come sei? asks what someone is like as a person or how they look. To ask how someone is feeling, Italian uses stare: come stai?, sto bene.
Essere. The passato prossimo is sono stato or sono stata, and the participle agrees with the subject: siamo stati, siete state. Avere is never correct with essere.
What is the past participle of essere?
Stato. It is irregular, and it is also the past participle of stare, so the compound tenses of the two verbs look the same: sono stato a casa can mean “I was at home” or “I stayed at home.”
Is essere irregular?
Yes, more than any other Italian verb. Its forms come from several Latin stems, so sono, ero, fui, sarò and sia share almost nothing. The only predictable parts are the compound tenses, which all use essere plus stato.
Which verbs use essere as their auxiliary?
Most verbs of movement and change of state (andare, venire, partire, arrivare, nascere, morire, diventare), verbs of staying (stare, restare, rimanere), piacere, all reflexive verbs (mi sono alzato), and every passive sentence (è stato venduto). With essere, the participle always agrees with the subject. Most other verbs use avere, which has its own grammar page.
What is the difference between essere and stare?
In short, essere states what something is, and stare says how someone is doing or where they stay: è simpatico (he is nice) but sta bene (he is well). Stare also forms the present progressive, sto leggendo. The full comparison, with regional differences, is on the essere vs stare grammar page.