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),
then click the printer icon in the upper left!

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

Ligabue's Mondovisione: Which songs do you want to see?

UPDATE: Since its release in late November, Mondovisione has had enormous success and garnered many accolades and praise!

Scroll down to see the song titles, play a matching game, and VOTE for which songs you'd like to see covered on VIA OPTIMAE next!

Ligabue's tenth album Mondovisione recently released in Italy.  Many have said it is the most "political" of all his albums but Ligabue sees it as expressing of his sentiments— something he has tried to do in all of his albums.

"Questo non è un disco politico, perché anche le canzoni d'incazzatura sono canzoni sentimentali."

—Luciano Ligabue

"This is not a political album, because even songs about being pissed off are sentimental songs"

The album has been met with enormous success in Italy and I personally can't wait to buy the mp3 version when it becomes available through a US site (so far, I could only find an imported CD available through amazon.com) but I've been enjoying listening online in the meantime:

(Having problems with the embedded player?  Listen on grooveshark.com)

I learned a lot of Italian by listening to Italian songs in general and Ligabue's music in particular.  Going over the song titles and lyrics, there were several that peaked my interest and that I think would be interesting to discuss their meaning and translation.

Explore the song titles and their rough English translations by playing this little timed matching game:

Hint: Game displays 8 of the 14 song titles at a time, so play more than once to see them all, and improve your time! You can also "View this study set" to see them as flashcards or a list.

What do you think?  Let me know which songs interest you the most and we'll cover those first! You can COMMENT on this post below, or vote via FACEBOOK. 

[Note: 'Capo Spartivento' and 'Il suono, il brutto e il cattivo' are instrumental tracks]

---

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

...

Ligabue- Il Sale della Terra

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

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I'm anxiously awaiting your input! 

VOTE in the comment section of this post or on Facebook!

In the meantime…

Buon ascolto!
Happy listening!

-Alex

More advanced readers may also enjoy:

Mondovisione – Luciano Ligabue: la recensione

A full, song-by-song review in Italian from lamusicarock.com.

Neffa - Quando Sorridi: Song Meaning, Lyrics & Present Tense Italian Verbs

The upbeat tune and the simple, straightforward lyrics make Neffa's Quando Sorridi (When you smile) the perfect song to work on your Italian pronunciation as well as see the simple present tense of some common Italian verbs in use.

First, familiarize yourself with the song using this video which includes the lyrics:

(As always, I recommend singing along when you can! It will improve your pronunciation, cadence, and rhythm  so you sound more natural, plus it will help commit vocabulary and expressions to memory!)

Now, let's take a look at the verbs in the song, all of which are in the simple present tense or the infinitive (the unconjugated form of the verb, roughly corresponding to "to + verb" in English and ending in -are, -ere or -ire in Italian.)

I've underlined verbs in the simple present tense... for each:

1. What is the infinitive form? 
2. Is it a regular or irregular verb? 
3. What is the subject of the verb? (Remember, in Italian the subject is rarely expressed with the subject pronoun, and most often determined by the verb ending!)



Need to review some of these concepts?  Try: {How Italian Verbs Work}

Ognuno ha un peso da portare con sé 

non dirmi che tu non lo sai 

Ma più ci pensi e più succede che poi 

finisce che non ce la fai 

Sospesi in volo su una grande giostra al suono della musica 

giriamo io e te 

giriamo io e te 

La stessa vita così amara qualche istante fa 

se solo tu vuoi poi diventa più dolce che mai 

Non lo sai che quando sorridi 

è un attimo 

E così i pensieri più tristi 

svaniscono 

A che serve farsi la vita difficile 

se alla fine è già complicata così com'è 

Ognuno ha un po' amore dentro si sé 

non dirmi che tu non ce l'hai 

Ma più ne chiedi e più non serve perché 

dipende da quanto ne dai 

E poi lasciarti andare fino in fondo alla tua solitudine 

se è quello che vuoi 

se è quello che vuoi 

Ma finché al mondo c'è qualcuno che ci tiene a te 

ricorda se puoi quello è il bene più grande che hai 

Non lo sai che quando sorridi 

è un attimo 

e così i pensieri più tristi 

svaniscono 

a che serve farsi la vita difficile 

se alla fine è già complicata così com'è (x3)

Thanks to angolotesti.it for the song lyrics!

Compare your answers to my list of verbs (complete with the full present tense conjugations and meanings) here:

The Simple Present Tense: I Verbi di 'Quando Sorridi" da Neffa
(link opens PDF on Google drive)

Now, listen to the song again- paying close attention to the verbs.  Do you have a better idea of what is being said and who the singer is "talking" to?

Now let's look at my rough translation of the lyrics in English.  Once you've read through them, listen to the song again and see if you can associate the Italian words with the English translation.  In some cases, you'll see that they correspond word for word, in other cases, the wording changes quite a bit.  Do you agree with the translation?  Anything you would have translated differently?

Neffa- Quando Sorridi Lyrics in English:

Everybody has a weight to carry along
Don't tell me that you don't know
But the more you think about it, the more it happens that
It ends up that you can't handle it.

Suspended on a big merry-go-round to the sound of the music
You and I go around
You and I go around
The same life, that was so bitter just a second ago
becomes sweeter than ever if you just want it to…

Don't you know that when you smile
It takes just a second
And all you're saddest thoughts
Disappear
What's the point of making life difficult
When it's already complicated enough, just as it is

Everybody has a bit of love inside themselves
Don't tell me that you don't have it.
But the more you ask for it the more it doesn't work because
It depends on how much of it you give.
And then you let yourself go to the very depths of your loneliness
If that's what you want
If that's what you want
But as long as in the world there is somebody who cares about you
Remember if you can, that that's the biggest asset you have.

Don't you know that when you smile
It takes just a second
And all you're saddest thoughts
Disappear
What's the point of making life difficult
When it's already complicated enough, just as it is.

Is the song a little clearer?  More meaningful?  What is the message of the song?  Do you agree with it?

To me, the song is a simple reminder that how you react to situations and events in life is important and choosing to smile is a powerful way to instantly improve everything. Life can be difficult at times, but remembering what really counts can provide a little perspective and make even life's complications more enjoyable.

So, keep pressing play.. and Sorridi!

-Alex

*At the time of posting, this song was not available on amazon.com (where I generally buy all of my music) but they do have another, recent Neffa hit: "Molto Calmo" which I also recommend!