Learn Italian: Ognuno deve stare a proprio agio qui.

Ognuno deve stare a proprio agio qui.

Everyone must be at ease here.

Breakdown of Ognuno deve stare a proprio agio qui.

stare

to stay, to feel, to be

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Questions & Answers about Ognuno deve stare a proprio agio qui.

Why do we use proprio here instead of suo?

When the subject of the sentence is an indefinite pronoun like ognuno (everyone), nessuno (no one), or an impersonal si, you must use proprio instead of suo to mean "their" or "one's". Because the subject here is general, proprio is required.

Since ognuno means "everyone", why is the verb deve singular?

Ognuno translates to "everyone" or "each one", but grammatically it is strictly singular. Therefore, it takes the third-person singular verb deve (must), not the plural devono.

Why doesn't proprio have a definite article in front of it?

Usually, possessive adjectives in Italian need a definite article, but a proprio agio is a fixed idiom meaning "at one's ease" or "comfortable". In this specific phrase, the article is always dropped.

Why is the verb stare used instead of essere for "to be at ease"?

While you can technically say essere a proprio agio, Italian heavily prefers stare when talking about states of physical or psychological well-being. It is the same logic used when you ask come stai? (how are you?).