ESSERE - to be

essere
to be

'ESSERE' is the most commonly used verb!  It is used to describe a plethora of people of places and also occurs in other verb tenses.

It is easy to remember its meaning because it's related to the English word essence — or the intrinsic nature of something— what something REALLY IS.

ESSERE in the Present Tense

It is an irregular verb— meaning it does not follow a predictable pattern of conjugation— but don't worry!  You'll use it so much that you'll have it memorized in no time.

As the number one verb, it's no surprise that it occurs in a multitude of contexts and expressions.  To start with, let's focus on its use in three areas: Describing what it is, what it's like, and where it is.


ESSERE - What it is
ESSERE can be used to describe what something is...

essere… to be…                          

un ragazzo

a boy

una ragazza

a girl

un animale

an animal

una rosa

a rose

È un ragazzo.

He's a boy.

Sei una ragazza.

You're a girl.

L'elefante è un animale.

The elephant is an animal.

Queste sono rose.

These are roses.

ESSERE - What it's like
ESSERE can also be used to describe the physical characteristics or personality traits of the thing in question, as well as it's nationality or place of origin.

essere… to be…                         

alto

tall

basso

short

Sono alta.

I am tall.

La mia amica è bassa.
My friend is short.

essere… to be…                         

intelligente

intelligent
stupido
stupid
ottimista
optimistic
pessimista
pessimistic

Siete stupidi!

You're all dumb!

Perché sei così pessimista?

Why are you so pessimistic?

essere… to be…                          

americano

American
inglese
English
italiano
Italian
spagnolo
Spanish
di Los Angeles
from Los Angeles

di Madrid 

from Spain

Maria e José sono di Madrid—sono spagnoli.

Maria and José are from Madrid, they are Spanish.

Lui è di San Francisco ed io sono di Los Angeles— siamo americani. 

He is from San Francisco and I am from Los Angeles, we are American.

For lots more adjectives and the verb "ESSERE" see: Adjectives of Personality 

For a very complete list of nationalities, see: Adjectives of Nationality 

ESSERE - Where it is
ESSERE can also be used to describe where something is…

essere… to be…  

a Roma.

in Rome.
in Italia.
in Italy.
all'angolo.
on the corner.
sul tavolo.
on the table.

Il Colosseo è a Roma.

The colosseum is in Rome.

Le pizzerie migliori sono in Italia.

The best pizzerias are in Italy.

Il bar è all'angolo.

The bar's on the corner.

Le chiavi sono sul tavolo.

The keys are on the table.

ESSERE vs. STARE
ESSERE is NOT used to describe your current mood… that's the verb STARE which sometimes is translated as "to stay".  Italian uses STARE and not ESSERE, because STARE describes temporary states and ESSERE is used to describe more permanent or lasting ways of being.

Come stai? (STARE)

How are you? (as in your current mood or state)

Come sei? (ESSERE)
What are you like? (as in your general characteristics— either physically or personality-wise)

IO SONO & LORO SONO

Did you notice that the IO (I) and LORO (they) forms are the same?  This might be confusing at first since Italian doesn't always include the pronouns and you'll often just see "SONO" alone, but you can use context to figure it out.

For example, the following nouns and adjectives will be in the SINGULAR for IO and in the PLURAL for LORO.

Sono una persona intelligente.

I am an intelligent person.

Sono intelligenti.

They are intelligent.

È and the subject "it"
In English, we use the pronoun "it" when the subject is an inanimate object or when the subject is an abstract concept:

It is red. (IT= The book)
It is strange that… (IT is abstract)

In both cases, Italian uses no pronoun.  Instead, è is used alone and the "it" is implied:

È rosso.

It's red.

È strano che...

It's strange that...

CI + ESSERE

As we covered in a previous lesson, ESSERE is combined with "CI" to talk about What there is/What there are.  

To review this concept, please see:  C'è & Ci sono.

REVIEW & PRACTICE

As I said, there are MANY ways to use the verb 'ESSERE', which we'll cover more in depth later.   In the meantime, get comfortable with the present tense conjugations and practice what you've learned by printing & completing the exercises on pages 16 & 17 of the Beginner's Italian Workbook*.  
*not currently available on mobile devices!

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TIP: Open the workbook to the desired page(s),
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All lessons in the Beginner's Italian series:

  (1) How Italian verbs work, (Intro to verbs & grammar terms)

  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs

  (3) Italian present tense: -ERE verbs

  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs

  (5) La negazione - Negation
  (6) Ogni quanto? Quante volte? (Adverbs of frequency)
  (7) C'è & Ci sono (There is & There are)
  (8) Essere - to be  — CURRENT PAGE

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Sanremo 2014 — I vincitori! (the winners)

Saturday, February 22 marked the final night of the 64th edition of the famous Sanremo Festival— and here are the winners!





In the Campione category….

Arisa

 Controvento | Against the wind

Arisa, la vincitrice! (feminine version of vincitore— winner)
Photo via sorrisi.com

My personal favorite for this category! I loved the musical arrangement and Arisa's clear and sweet singing style.  

I'll be covering the song meaning and lyrics of Controvento in a future post, so I won't give too much away now, but check out Arisa's final night performance of the song, as well as the other Campioni competitors at rai.tv:

Check out the video of all of the "Campioni", final night performances and see how they compare!

i video su rai.tv

But that's not all…



In the Nuove Proposte category…

Rocco Hunt 

 Nu Juorno buono* | A good day 
(in standard Italian: un giorno buono)

It's easy to see why this song won a large percentage of the popular or "at home" vote.  In the face of overwhelmingly negative news and stereotypes about Southern Italy, this song emerges as a sort of "love song" to the region— acknowledging some of the challenges while emphasizing its strengths and pride in a heartfelt way. 

Watch Rocco's emotional performance/celebration after he found out he won {here} and check out the official music video: (click "Read more" to continue)

Sanremo 2014 — the first night of the Festival

The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo, often referred to simply as "Festival di Sanremo" or even just "Sanremo" (the town where it is held) started its 2014 edition last night.  Now in its 64th year, the festival has played a part in introducing Italy and the world to new music and artists and inspiring Europe's Eurovision song contest.

The festival consists of a competition with two major categories: Campioni (Big or known artists) and Nuove Proposte (newcomers).  Both groups perform previously unreleased songs and on the final night, a winner for each category is chosen by a combination of viewer and Jury votes.  There are also guest performances and tributes from international and Italian artists alike.

Photo via repubblica.it: "Sanremo, partenza con brivido" (in italiano)

This year, Ligabue (one of my favorites) kicked off the festival with a birthday tribute to famed artist Fabrizio de André who would have turned 74, singing one of his songs "Creuza de mà".  I thought his performance was great, and it was interesting to hear the lyrics in dialect, and see the standard Italian lyrics in subtitles below as well. I also particularly enjoyed the sounds of the Bouzouki, played by co-author of the song Mauro Pagani [See the video on the Festival site.]


The official competition started with 7 of the 14 "Campioni" artists, who performed two songs each.  Through a mixed voting process, one song from each artist was chosen to continue in the competition.


The winning songs for each artist are starred…Let me know what you think! Which songs do you like/dislike?  Do you agree with the winning song votes?


(Click the song titles to link to videos of each performance)

Arisa

Lentamente (Il primo che passa)  | Slowly (The first one to pass)

*Controvento |  Against the wind

Frankie Hi-Nrg mc

*Pedala |  Pedal!

Un uomo è vivo |  A man is alive

Antonella Ruggiero

Quando balliamo |  When we dance

*Da lontano | From afar

Raphael Gualazzi & The Bloody Beetroots

*Liberi o no | Free or not

Tanto ci sei |  In any case you're there

Cristiano De André

Invisibili | Invisible

*Il cielo è vuoto |  The sky is empty

Perturbazione

*L'Unica |  The only one

L'Italia vista dal bar |  Italy as seen from the bar

Giusy Ferreri

L'amore possiede il bene |  Love possesses the good

*Ti porto a cena con me |  I'll take you to dinner with me

Links to all videos from "La prima serata" available on rai.tv

Again, I'd love to hear what you think!  Do you agree with the winning songs for each artist? Any favorite songs or artists? Comment below or you can also connect and comment via Via Optimae on Facebook if you prefer!]

Buon Ascolto!

(happy listening!)

~Alex

P.S. You can also watch the entire Prima Serata (first night) here

Song meaning and lyrics: Tu sei lei

Back in December, I asked readers to vote in the poll "Ligabue's Mondovisione: Which song do you want to see next?"

Readers, in general, seemed to be in a romantic mood, overlooking many of the "political" or "rant" songs and opting instead for…

Tu sei lei  
(You are her)

The song itself is light and easy, not straying too far from many of Ligabue's previous offerings.

The video, too, is simple and sweet and shows two guys who stop various women along the streets of Rome and ask to take their pictures.  Watch it now (below) to see what happens (or just to admire the beautiful scenery and diversity of Rome!)

I've reproduced the original lyrics as well as provided an English translation to the right.  

For visual learners, it can be helpful to read along with the lyrics but I do suggest that everybody (regardless of their learning style) listen to the songs several times without looking at the written word. It gives your mind a chance to analyze what it hears and assimilate the sounds without getting bogged down by spelling and orthography "interference" and this will help reinforce the meaning when you learn it later (I promise!)

Dopo tutti questi anni	After all these years
io non smetto di guardarti	I never stop looking at you
qualche volta ancora a bocca aperta.	sometimes still with my mouth agape.
Non finisco di capire	I still don't understand
Non finisci di stupire	You never cease to amaze
come non dovesse mai finire	as if it were never ending.
Vuoi nascondermi i difetti	You want to hide your faults from me
mentre a me piacciono tutti	while I like them all
ma non te lo vuoi sentire dire	but you don't want to hear it.
E ti guardo mentre sogni	And I look at you while you dream
e mi tocca stare fuori	and I have to stay out
e mi tocca solo indovinare.	and I have to just guess.
Dopo tanti anni e un giorno	After many years and a day
quando il mare sembra calmo	when the sea seems calm
vieni fuori ancora tu	you also come out
con quel nome da straniera	with that foreign name
da chi è sempre stata sola	of someone who has always been alone
e da un pò non deve più	and for some time doesn't have to anymore
perché...	because...
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente	out of so many people
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
E quegli occhi li conosco	And those eyes I know them
io li ho visti spesso nudi	I've seen them nude often
ma non si vedeva mai la fine	but I never saw the end.
il tuo cuore accelerato	Your accelerated heart
le pupille dilatate	the dilated pupils
e non mi restituisci il cuore.	and you won't give me back my heart.
Dopo tanti anni e un giorno	After so many years and a day
quando il vento sembra fermo	when the wind seems still
vieni fuori sempre tu	You always come out
con quel nome da straniera	with that foreign name
da chi riesce a stare sola	of someone who's able to be alone
ma da un pò non deve più	but for some time doesn't have to anymore
perché...	because…
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente.	out of so many people.
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
Se l'universo intero	If the entire universe
ci ha fatto rincontrare	got us to meet again
qualcosa di sicuro vorrà dire.	surely that's saying something.
Tu sei lei	You are her
come sei	as you are
inesorabilmente.	without end.
E mi hai salvato tante volte	And you've saved me many times
da qualche tipo di altra morte	from different types of other death
andando dritta sulla verità	going straight to the truth
e mi regali un altro giorno	and you gift me another day
in cui sembra tutto fermo	in which everything seems still
ma tutto si trasforma	but everything is transformed
tutto si conferma	everything is confirmed
e lasci in giro il tuo profumo	and you leave behind your perfume
come a dirmi "io ci sono"	as if to say "I am here"
come a dirmi "sarò sempre qua"	as if to say "I will always be here"
perchè...	because...
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente.	out of so many people
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
Se l'universo intero	If the entire universe
ci ha fatto rincontrare	got us to meet
qualcosa di sicuro vorrà dire.	surely that's saying something.
Tu sei lei	You are her
come sei	as you are
inevitabilmente	inevitably.

Keep listening to the song until the sounds become familiar, and if you can get to the point where you can sing along, that's even better!


Once you've become familiar with the sound and flow, then you can begin to try and understand the meaning.  Use my English translation as a guide to direct you if needed, but do try and decipher the meaning yourself as well.  

Here are some questions that you may find useful in guiding your study:

• What words do I recognize?  Does the translation provided match what I thought the definition was?  If not, is there anything in context which would explain the translation provided?

• Which words do I not recognize?  What part of speech are they? (Noun, verb, adjective, etc.)

• Which tense(s) does the song use?  Is all the action occurring in the present, so it uses the Simple Present?  Or does it change?  (Use the Word Reference Conjugator to look up any verb and it will tell you what tense it is and what the infinitive form of the verb is)

• Comparing the original text with the English translation, can you match words or phrases?  Which lines are translated word-for-word and which vary a bit more?  Can you think of an alternate translation?

These questions are a great start to your own study.. but if there's anything that's unclear or that you'd like explained further… Just ask! (Comment below or use the "Chiedimi" contact form in the righthand sidebar.)

Buon Ascolto!

-Alex

P.S.We'll be covering more songs from the album, so use this link to vote again on Facebook or explore the other song titles here.

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 I already covered the album's first single 'Il Sale della Terra'…in case you missed it:

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Ligabue- Il Sale della Terra

"Il sale della terra" music video, testo in italiano and lyrics in English.

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