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of “Essere” in Italian
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By Walter Moraschinelli / Italian Grammar / April 15, 2019

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Learning the conjugation of the verb essere is fundamental if you want to Complete Guide from Beginner to
learn Italian, as it is by far the most used verb of the language. Essere is an Fluent

auxiliary verb, which means it is used to make other verbal tenses. - Polish Grammar Series
- Comprehensible Input – How
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Essere is also irregular, so you will have to learn all of its forms by heart. But
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don’t worry—once you learn how the compound tenses are made, you will - How Cloze Tests Help You Learn A
already be halfway through. Let’s see how to conjugate essere, and how it is Language 5x Faster
used in common Italian phrases.

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Essere – Conjugation in the Indicative Mood

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Tu eri You were

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Lui / Lei era He / She was
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Noi eravamo We were language?
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The imperfect tense is used when talking about an action that was going Go >

on at the time of speaking, for example:

I vicini erano in vacanza ieri. (The neighbors were on holiday

yesterday.)

Passato remoto

Io fui I was

Tu fosti You were

Lui / Lei fu He / She was

Noi fummo We were

Voi foste You were

Essi furono They were

The remote past tense is used when describing events that happened a
long time ago. The verb essere itself is seldom used in this form—mostly as
an auxiliary to other verbs, for example:

Quella notte fummo fermati dalla polizia. (We were stopped by the
police that night.)

Futuro semplice

Io sarò I will be

Tu sarai You will be

Lui / Lei sarà He / She will be

Noi saremo We will be

Voi sarete You will be

Essi saranno They will be

Domani saremo a casa. (We will be home tomorrow.)

Arianna sarà a Roma settimana prossima (Arianna will be in Rome
next week.)

This tense can also be used to express doubt, to give orders, or to provide
an estimate. These ways of using the future tense are only used in
colloquial speech.

Compound tenses

These tenses are built by pairing the auxiliary verb with its respective past
participle form.

There are four compound tenses in the indicativ. To create them, all you
have to do is use the conjugated simple form of essere in the tense you
need, and add the participle stato to it. Once you learn how to
conjugate essere in the simple tenses, you will be able to easily construct
the following tenses as well.

Passato prossimo

Io sono stato I have been

Tu sei stato You have been

Lui / Lei è stato/a He / She has been

Noi siamo stati We have been

Voi siete stati You have been

Essi sono stati They have been

The most versatile past tense, passato prossimo is used to indicate an action
that happened and reached its conclusion in the past, compared to
imperfetto, where the action was still happening at the time of speaking.

Sono stato in chiesa. (I have been to church.)

Ieri siamo stati al museo. (We have been at the museum yesterday.)

Trapassato prossimo

Io ero stato I had been

Tu eri stato You had been

Lui / Lei era stato/a He / She had been

Noi eravamo stati We had been

Voi eravate stati You had been

Essi erano stati They had been

Marco era appena stato dal parrucchiere ieri, quando ha ricevuto

una chiamata. (Marco had just been to the hairdresser yesterday,
when he received a call.)
Io e Giulia eravamo stati a scuola la mattina, e siamo tornati a casa
insieme. (Giulia and I had been at school in the morning, and we
came home together.)

This tense is used to talk about an action or event already performed in the
past, which precedes another to which it is connected and which is
expressed by a past tense. Nowadays, it is only used very rarely.

Trapassato remoto

Io fui stato

Tu fosti stato

Lui / Lei fu stato/a

Noi fummo stati

Voi foste stati

Essi furono stati

This tense does not have an English equivalent, and it is rarely used in
Italian as well. Like the passato remoto, we use this tense when we refer to
events that happened a long time ago, that were then followed by another
event, for example:

Dopo che Anna fu stata dal commercialista, si imbatté in Luca.

(After Anna was at the accountant’s, she came across Luca.)

It is archaic and being gradually replaced by passato prossimo, so you will

mostly find it in older works of literature.

Futuro anteriore

Io sarò stato I will have been

Tu sarai stato You will have been

Lui / Lei sarà stato/a He / She will have been

Noi saremo stati We will have been

Voi sarete stati You will have been

Essi saranno stati They will have been

This tense is used when you want to talk about what is going to happen
once the action will have happened in the future, for example:

Dopo che sarò stato in banca, andrò a visitare Carlo in ospedale.

(After I will have been to the bank, I will visit Carlo in the hospital.)

Notes:

Three out of the four compound tenses are only used to describe
events in relation to other events. They do not make sense in
standalone sentences. Passato remoto is the only compound tense
that works by itself.
Essere can be an auxiliary to itself, unlike in English.
The phrase that follows one with the compound tense has to be
in the corresponding simple tense. So, if you use trapassato
remoto, the following phrase has to be in passato remote, and if
you use future anteriore, the following phrase has to be in future
semplice.

Essere – Conjugation in the Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive (congiuntivo) mood is used to express subjectivity,

uncertainty, or doubt.

It is used in subordinate clauses—clauses that cannot exist as a complete

sentence because they do not express a complete thought—and always
introduced by the word che (that). Like the indicative, it has simple and
compound tenses. Let’s see how to conjugate essere in the subjunctive
mood.

Simple tenses

Presente

Che io sia I am

Che tu sia You are

Che lui / lei sia He / She is

Che noi siamo We are

Che voi siate You are

Che essi siano They are

Penso che Giacomo sia triste. (I think that Giacomo is sad.)

Credo che siate in ritardo. (I believe that you are late.)

Imperfetto

Che io fossi (that) I were

Che tu fossi (that) you were

Che lui / lei fosse (that) he / she were

Che noi fossimo (that) we were

Che voi foste (that) you were

Che essi fossero (that) they were

Vorrei tu fossi qui. (I wish you were here.)

Credevo fossimo i migliori. (I thought we were the best.)

Compound tenses

You create these by adding stato to the corresponding auxiliary.

Passato

Che io sia stato I have been

Che tu sia stato You have been

Che lui / lei sia stato/a He / She has been

Che noi siamo stati We have been

Che voi siate stati You have been

Che essi siano stati They have been

Credo che Marco e Giulia siano stati qui ieri. (I believe that Marco
and Giulia have been here yesterday.)

Trapassato

Che io fossi stato

Che tu fossi stato

Che lui / lei fosse stato/a

Che noi fossimo stati

Che voi foste stati

Che essi fossero stati

This tense is used to express a past possibility or a need that has not
happened or been realized, for example:

Credevo tu fossi stato al McDonald’s del paese ieri. (I thought you

had been at the town’s McDonald’s yesterday.)

Notes:

The word che can be omitted when the verb expresses doubt or
uncertainty. It cannot be omitted when expressing will.
The subjunctive mood does not have its own conjugation in
English.

Essere – Conjugation in the Conditional Mood

The conditional (condizionale) mood is used to indicate an event that will

happen only if a certain condition is satisfied.

Below is the conjugation of essere in the two tenses of the conditional

mood.

Presente

Io sarei

Tu saresti

Lui / Lei sarebbe

Noi saremmo

Voi sareste

Essi sarebbero

Tu e Mario sareste in grado di vincere, se vi impegnaste di più. (You

and Mario would be capable of winning, if you worked harder.)

Passato

Io sarei stato

Tu saresti stato

Lui / Lei sarebbe stato / a

Noi saremmo stati

Voi sareste stati

Essi sarebbero stati

Luigi e Anna sarebbero stati promossi se non fosse capitato

quell’incidente. (Luigi and Anna would have been promoted if that
accident hadn’t happened.)

The English language does not have the conditional mood. To create
hypothetical sentences, it uses conditional sentences instead.

Note:

The subordinate phrase of a conditional sentence is always in the

subjunctive mood.

Essere – Conjugation in the Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give commands and orders.

In English, it is rendered with the present simple.

Tu sii

Lui / Lei sia

Noi siamo

Voi siate

Essi siano

This mood isn’t used at all outside of works of literature or movies to add a
dramatic effect to what’s being said, for example:

Che sia portata in prigione. (Take her to jail.)

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The indefinite moods of essere

These moods do not have a subject, hence the name “indefinite”. They are
used in subordinate sentences, where you can figure out the missing
subject from the context.

Infinitive

Present Past

Essere Essere stato

Participle

Present Past

Essente Stato

Gerund

Present Past

Essendo Essendo stato

Notes:

The infinitive present is the base form of the verb, so this is the
form you look for when looking up a verb in a dictionary.
Do not expect to see essente anywhere. Stato on the other hand is
all over the conjugation.
The gerund is used to express the contemporaneity, anteriority,
causality, or consequentiality of one action with respect to
another. Here’s an example:
Essendo stato già tre volte a Barcellona, l’anno prossimo
andrò a Madrid. (Having been to Barcelona three times
already, next year I’m going to Madrid.)

Challenge yourself with Clozemaster

Learning how to conjugate essere might seem daunting at first, but don’t
worry, it comes naturally with practice.

Test your skills and see what you’ve learned from this article by
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of essere.

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1 thought on “Everything You Need to Know About the

Conjugation of “Essere” in Italian”

JASON R
APRIL 21, 2021 AT 3:49 PM

Great thank you !

Reply

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