Essere vs Stare

In English there's just one verb for to be. In Italian there are two — essere and stare — and they're not freely interchangeable.

• essere is the general "to be": identity, origin, profession, qualities, and also location. Io sono Marina. Sono di Berlino. Sono a Firenze.
• stare means more like "to be located / to feel". It's used above all for how you feel (Come stai? — Sto bene) and later for the progressive form (sto parlando).

Drill

Fill the gaps with the right form of essere or stare.

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