bastiamo

Bastiamo is the first-person plural present indicative form of the Italian verb bastare, meaning to be enough or to suffice. It is used to express that a given amount of people, time, money, or another resource is sufficient to meet a need, often in response to a question or doubt about whether more is required.

Bastare is a regular -are verb. The present indicative forms are: io basto, tu basti, lui/lei basta, noi bastiamo, voi bastate, loro bastano. The form bastiamo is therefore used to say “we are enough” or “we suffice.” In everyday speech, the impersonal form basta is also very common, as in mi basta or basta, to indicate sufficiency without a explicit subject.

Usage and examples

Bastiamo noi per il lavoro? Is it enough if it’s just us to do the work? Bastiamo noi for the context. More typical constructions include:

- Mi basta una bottiglia d’acqua. One bottle of water is enough for me.

- Bastano dieci minuti. Ten minutes are enough.

- Per la riunione non servono altri; bastiamo noi. For the meeting, no others are needed; we are enough.

Bastare can also be used with di-infinitive or che-clauses to express conditions or requirements, for example: basta che arrivi in orario (“as long as you arrive on time”). In contrast, bastiamo tends to appear in direct statements about sufficiency by a group.

Related terms and notes

Bastare has related forms in other Romance languages and is linked semantically to sufficient and adequate. Common synonyms in context include sufficiente and abbastanza, though they differ in nuance and grammatical use.