Let's Learn TWO Expressions Italians use EVERY DAY ... in BRUGES!

Learn TWO Italian expressions that are used EVERYDAY in in Italy!

Stare per + infinitive

To say that you are about to do something, or that something is about to happen in the near future, in Italian we use the structure stare per + infinitive, which is the equivalent of the English structure “to be about to + verb”.

This construction is very common and it can be used in all kinds of contexts.

• Sto per bere un caffe’
  I am about to drink a coffee.

• Sta per piovere.
  It is about to rain.

• Stiamo per uscire.
  We are about to go out.

As you can see from the examples above, to use this construction you just need to conjugate the verb stare with the subject of the action, add per and the infinitive of a verb.

In the video I used HO APPENA, which means that I JUST did something. It is always used with compound tenses and it must be placed between the auxiliary and the past participle.

For example:

• Ho appena mangiato una fetta di pizza. (I just ate a slice of pizza)

When we change the subject, we need to conjugate the auxiliary.

• Abbiamo appena prenotato la vacanza. (We just booked a holiday).

• Sono appena tornato a casa. (I just got home).