Learn Italian: Quell'uomo sta male, sta per svenire! - That man feels ill, he is about to faint!

The phrase stare per followed by an infinitive verb (like svenire, meaning 'to faint') is used to express an action that is just about to happen. Since the subject is 'he', we conjugate stare to sta, giving us sta per svenire.

Why do we use sta male instead of è male for 'feels ill'?

When talking about physical health or how someone is feeling overall, Italian uses the verb stare (to stay/be) with an adverb, rather than essere (to be). So stare male literally means 'to stay badly', but translates naturally as 'to feel ill' or 'to be unwell'.

Why is it quell'uomo and not quello uomo?

The adjective for 'that' (quello) drops its final letter and adds an apostrophe when the next word starts with a vowel. This makes pronunciation smoother, similar to how we use l' instead of lo before a vowel-starting noun like uomo.

Could I say si sente male instead of sta male?

Yes, si sente male (from the reflexive verb sentirsi, meaning 'to feel') is also perfectly correct and means the same thing here. Sta male is just a faster, very common alternative used in everyday Italian.