essere

Essere is the Italian verb meaning "to be" and is also a philosophical term meaning existence. In Italian, essere is among the most common and versatile verbs, used to express identity and presence, and as an auxiliary to form compound tenses. In philosophical contexts, l'Essere, capitalized, denotes the fundamental nature of reality.

It derives from Latin esse and is cognate with Spanish ser and French être. The development of its core meaning traces the evolution of existence and identity across Romance languages, making it a central reference point in discussions of existence and predication.

Conjugation and usage: Essere is irregular and highly frequent. Present indicative forms are sono, sei, è; siamo, siete, sono. Imperfect: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano. Passato prossimo uses essere as auxiliary for intransitive verbs and with certain adjectives, resulting in stato/stata/stati. For example: sono stato, sei stata, è stato, siamo stati, siete state, sono state. Future: sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno. Subjunctive present: sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano; imperfect: fossi, fossi, fosse, fossimo, foste, fossero. Conditional: sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero. Gerund: essendo. Past participle: stato. The verb also serves as the auxiliary for passive voice and many compound tenses, and the past participle agrees with the subject when used with essere.

Philosophical significance: In philosophy, l'Essere refers to the concept of Being in ontology. The Italian usage mirrors Latin and German traditions, with Heidegger's Essere e Tempo widely known in Italian as Essere e Tempo. Classical phrases such as essere o non essere are used to discuss existence and essence in literature and rhetoric. In everyday language, Essere remains essential for expressing existence, identity, and relations between subjects and predicates.