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Sii coraggioso, l'orso sta per attaccare!

Sii coraggioso, l'orso sta per attaccare!
Be brave, the bear is about to attack!
From Lesson 122:Irregular informal commands (sii, fa', sta')·Italian

Questions & Answers about Sii coraggioso, l'orso sta per attaccare!

Where does the word sii come from?
It is the irregular informal command form (imperative) of essere (to be) for tu (you). Because essere doesn't follow the normal rules for commands, you just have to memorize sii when you want to tell someone 'be!'.
How does the phrase sta per attaccare work?
This uses the very common construction stare per followed by an infinitive verb, which means 'to be about to' do something. Here, sta is the 'it' form of stare (matching the bear), paired with the infinitive attaccare (to attack) to mean 'is about to attack'.
Would this sentence change if I were speaking to a woman?
Yes! Because you are giving a command to a specific person (tu), the adjective describing them must match their gender. coraggioso ends in -o, so it is masculine. If you were telling a woman to be brave, you would say Sii coraggiosa!
Why does orso (bear) use the article l' instead of il?
orso is a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel. Masculine words starting with a vowel take the definite article lo, not il. However, to avoid two vowels clashing, the o on lo is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe, making it l'orso.

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