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### On the Verge: Stare per

When you want to express that an action is *about to* happen or is on the verge of occurring, Italian uses a very simple formula. 

You combine the conjugated verb **stare** (to stay/be) with the word **per**, followed by the **infinitive** (the unconjugated dictionary form) of the action verb. 

Here is a quick reminder of the present tense of **stare**:

| Subject | Stare |
|---|---|
| io | sto |
| tu | stai |
| lui/lei/Lei | sta |
| noi | stiamo |
| voi | state |
| loro | stanno |

This structure is especially useful for impersonal verbs like weather events, which always use the third-person singular **sta**.

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### Changing the Subject

You can use this construction with any subject. Simply conjugate **stare** to match who or what is about to perform the action.

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### Describing Emergencies

Because *stare per* communicates immediacy, it is incredibly common when reacting to sudden situations and emergencies. Notice how singular nouns like **l'ambulanza** (the ambulance), **la donna** (the woman), or **l'incendio** (the fire) also take the third-person singular **sta**.

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Imminent actions (stare per)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Past tense of modal verbs

Question	Answer
to rain	piovere
It is about to rain.	Sta per piovere.
the cloud	la nuvola
The clouds are black and it is about to rain.	Le nuvole sono nere e sta per piovere.
the wind	il vento
the thunderstorm	il temporale
There is a lot of wind, a thunderstorm is about to arrive.	C'è molto vento, sta per arrivare un temporale.
to worsen	peggiorare
The wind is strong and the weather is about to worsen.	Il vento è forte e il tempo sta per peggiorare.
Let's return home, the situation is about to worsen.	Torniamo a casa, la situazione sta per peggiorare.
We are about to go out, but it is about to rain.	Stiamo per uscire, ma sta per piovere.
to snow	nevicare
It is cold and it is about to snow.	Fa freddo e sta per nevicare.
Are you all about to leave? It's about to snow!	State per partire? Sta per nevicare!
to faint	svenire
That man feels ill, he is about to faint!	Quell'uomo sta male, sta per svenire!
the ambulance (f)	l'ambulanza
The woman is about to faint, I am calling the ambulance!	La donna sta per svenire, chiamo l'ambulanza!
the fire (m)	l'incendio
There is a fire, but the ambulance is about to arrive.	C'è un incendio, ma l'ambulanza sta per arrivare.
the smoke	il fumo
I see the smoke: the fire is about to arrive here!	Vedo il fumo: l'incendio sta per arrivare qui!
There is a lot of smoke: something bad is about to happen.	C'è molto fumo: qualcosa di brutto sta per succedere.
Sir, careful, you are about to fall!	Signore, attento, sta per cadere!
Don't worry, nobody is about to faint.	Tranquillo, nessuno sta per svenire.
We cannot go out: the weather is about to worsen.	Non possiamo uscire: il tempo sta per peggiorare.
There is a black cloud, the thunderstorm is about to begin.	C'è una nuvola nera, il temporale sta per iniziare.
the rescue, the aid (il pronto soccorso = the ER)	il soccorso
The woman fainted: the ambulance takes her to the emergency room.	La donna è svenuta: l'ambulanza la porta al pronto soccorso.
There is a fire: I immediately call for help.	C'è un incendio: chiamo subito i soccorsi.

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