Conjugation of essere (to be) in Italian
Exercises
The verb essere (to be) is one of the most used verbs in Italian.
Lesson Outline
Hide- 1.Uses of the verb essere in Italian
- 2.Conjugation of essere
- 2.1.Indicative
- 2.1.1.Presente (Present Simple)
- 2.1.2.Passato Prossimo (Present Perfect)
- 2.1.3.Imperfetto (Imperfect)
- 2.1.4.Trapassato Prossimo (Past Perfect)
- 2.1.5.Passato Remoto (Absolute Past)
- 2.1.6.Trapassato Remoto (Preterite Perfect)
- 2.1.7.Futuro Semplice (Future Simple)
- 2.1.8.Futuro Anteriore (Future Perfect)
- 2.2.Subjunctive
- 2.2.1.Presente (Present)
- 2.2.2.Passato (Past)
- 2.2.3.Imperfetto (Imperfect)
- 2.2.4.Trapassato (Past Perfect)
- 2.3.Conditional
- 2.3.1.Presente (Present)
- 2.3.2.Passato (Past)
- 2.4.Imperative
- 2.5.Infinitive
- 2.6.Participle
- 2.7.Gerund
Uses of the verb essere in Italian
Essere has two main important usages:
- it is an independent verb, with its own meaning (to be);
- it is one of the main auxiliary verb, fundamental to form compound tenses of intransitive, reflexive and impersonal verbs.
| Example | Translation |
|---|---|
| Io sono molto stanca oggi. | I am really tired today. |
| Tu sei andato al cinema ieri? | Did you to the cinema yesterday. |
| Mi sono appena lavata le mani. | I've just washed my hands. |
Conjugation of essere
The conjugation of essere is directly linked with the original Latin conjugation.
For this reason, it is not possible to integrate it in the general classification of the three conjugation in Italian.
Indicative
Presente (Present Simple)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sono* |
| Tu | sei |
| Egli / ella | è |
| Noi | siamo |
| Voi | siete |
| Essi / esse | sono* |
*
Careful! As you can notice, the first singular form and the third plural form of the simple present is the same. You can disambiguate them thanks to the agreement between the subject (and its adjectives) and the verb itself. Moreover, it's easier to understand which is the subject in the compound tenses due to the endings of the past participle.
e.g. Io sono felice. (I am happy) - Io sono venuto con voi ieri. (I came with you yesterday);
Loro sono felici. (They are happy). - Loro non sono venuti con voi ieri. (They didn't come with you yesterday)
Passato Prossimo (Present Perfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sono stato |
| Tu | sei stato |
| Egli / ella | è stato |
| Noi | siamo stati |
| Voi | siete stati |
| Essi / esse | sono stati |
Imperfetto (Imperfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | ero |
| Tu | eri |
| Egli / ella | era |
| Noi | eravamo |
| Voi | eravate |
| Essi / esse | erano |
Trapassato Prossimo (Past Perfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | ero stato |
| Tu | eri stato |
| Egli / ella | era stato |
| Noi | eravamo stati |
| Voi | eravate stati |
| Essi / esse | erano stati |
Passato Remoto (Absolute Past)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | fui |
| Tu | fosti |
| Egli / ella | fu |
| Noi | fummo |
| Voi | foste |
| Essi / esse | fossero |
Trapassato Remoto (Preterite Perfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | fui stato |
| Tu | fosti stato |
| Egli / ella | fu stato |
| Noi | fummo stati |
| Voi | foste stati |
| Essi / esse | furono stati |
Futuro Semplice (Future Simple)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sarò |
| Tu | sarai |
| Egli / ella | sarà |
| Noi | saremo |
| Voi | sarete |
| Essi / esse | saranno |
Futuro Anteriore (Future Perfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sarò stato |
| Tu | sarai stato |
| Egli / ella | sarà stato |
| Noi | saremo stati |
| Voi | sarete stati |
| Essi / esse | saranno stati |
Subjunctive
Presente (Present)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| (Che) io | sia |
| (Che) tu | sia |
| (Che) egli / ella | sia |
| (Che) noi | siamo |
| (Che) voi | siate |
| (Che) essi / esse | siano |
Passato (Past)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| (Che) io | sia stato |
| (Che) tu | sia stato |
| (Che) egli / ella | sia stato |
| (Che) noi | siamo stati |
| (Che) voi | siate stati |
| (Che) essi / esse | siano stati |
Imperfetto (Imperfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| (Che) io | fossi |
| (Che) tu | fossi |
| (Che) egli / ella | fosse |
| (Che) noi | fossimo |
| (Che) voi | foste |
| (Che) essi / esse | fossero |
Trapassato (Past Perfect)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| (Che) io | fossi stato |
| (Che) tu | fossi stato |
| (Che) egli / ella | fosse stato |
| (Che) noi | fossimo stati |
| (Che) voi | foste stati |
| (Che) essi / esse | fossero stati |
Conditional
Presente (Present)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sarei |
| Tu | saresti |
| Egli / ella | sarebbe |
| Noi | saremmo |
| Voi | sareste |
| Essi / esse | sarebbero |
Passato (Past)
| Essere | |
|---|---|
| Io | sarei stato |
| Tu | saresti stato |
| Egli / ella | sarebbe stato |
| Noi | saremmo stati |
| Voi | sareste stati |
| Essi / esse | sarebbero stati |
Imperative
| Present | |
|---|---|
| Io | - |
| Tu | sii |
| Egli / ella | sia |
| Noi | siamo |
| Voi | siate |
| Essi / esse | siano |
Infinitive
| Present | Past |
|---|---|
| essere | essere stato |
Participle
| Present | Past |
|---|---|
| (ènte, essènte) | stato |
Gerund
| Present | Past |
|---|---|
| essèndo | essendo stato |
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