Everything You Need to Know About the Conjugation of “Essere” in Italian

Learning the conjugation of the verb essere is fundamental if you want to learn Italian, as it is by far the most used verb of the language. Essere is an auxiliary verb, which means it is used to make other verbal tenses.

Essere is also irregular, so you will have to learn all of its forms by heart. But don’t worry—once you learn how the compound tenses are made, you will already be halfway through. Let’s see how to conjugate essere, and how it is used in common Italian phrases.

The finite moods of essere

There are four finite moods in Italian: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, and imperative.

Essere – Conjugation in the Indicative Mood

The indicative mood is made up of eight tenses, four simple tenses, and four compound tenses. It is used to express certainty that an action happened or that it will happen.

Simple tenses

Presente

Io sono	I am
Tu sei	You are
Lui / Lei è	He / She is
Noi siamo	We are
Voi siete	You are
Essi sono	They are

• Io sono un ingegnere. (I am an engineer.)

As you can see, you don’t have to add the subject to the sentence when it is implied by the verb. You could get rid of io in the first example and the sentence would still be grammatically correct.

Imperfetto

Io ero	I was
Tu eri	You were
Lui / Lei era	He / She was
Noi eravamo	We were
Voi eravate	You were
Essi erano	They were

The imperfect tense is used when talking about an action that was going 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.)

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

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