Italian Stare Per + Infinitive: About To Do (A2)

🔍 In short. Italian stare per + infinitive is the everyday way to say “about to do something”. Sto per uscire means I’m about to head out; il treno sta per partire means the train is about to leave. The action hasn’t started yet, but it’s a hair away. Unlike English “about to”, Italian stare per works with people and with weather alike: sta per piovere, “it’s about to rain”. You’ll also meet two formal cousins, essere sul punto di and essere in procinto di, but for daily Italian, stare per wins. This guide shows you how to use italian stare per infinitive without overthinking, how to keep it apart from stare + gerundio, and when to switch to the simple future instead.

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The one-liner: what italian stare per infinitive does

Italian stare per followed by an infinitive marks an action that is about to happen, usually in the next few seconds or minutes. It’s the natural equivalent of English “to be about to”. Picture Tea closing her purse on the pier in Vasto: sto per uscire, she says into the phone, and Lazzaro knows she’ll be at the door in under a minute. The italian stare per infinitive construction lives in that narrow window between “not yet started” and “happening right now”.

The structure is simple: conjugate stare, add per, and finish with the infinitive of the action verb. No agreement, no special endings, no exceptions. That’s why this is one of the first patterns A2 learners can master cleanly and use straight away in real conversations.

How to form italian stare per infinitive

The pattern is always the same: stare (conjugated) + per + infinitive. The infinitive stays in its dictionary form, never agreeing with anything. Only the verb stare changes. Here are the basic present-tense forms with examples set in Vasto, on the Abruzzo coast where Tea and Lazzaro run a small trabocco restaurant.

• Sto per uscire dal trabocco.
  I’m about to leave the trabocco.
• Stai per perdere il traghetto delle nove.
  You’re about to miss the nine o’clock ferry.
• Tea sta per ordinare un caffè in pasticceria.
  Tea is about to order a coffee at the pastry shop.
• Stiamo per inaugurare la stagione estiva.
  We’re about to open the summer season.
• State per dimenticare le chiavi sul tavolo.
  You (plural) are about to forget the keys on the table.
• I clienti stanno per arrivare al trabocco per la cena.
  The customers are about to arrive at the trabocco for dinner.

Notice that the infinitive carries the meaning. Stare per is the time frame (“right before”); the infinitive is the action (“leave”, “order”, “open”). Once you fix that division of labour in your head, italian stare per infinitive becomes almost mechanical to build.

Why stare per signals imminence, not intention

English “I’m going to” can mean two things: an action about to happen in the next moment, or a vaguer plan for next week. Italian splits these two senses. For the vague plan, Italian uses the simple future or the present indicative with a time marker (vado a Pescara venerdì). For the genuinely imminent action, Italian reaches for italian stare per infinitive. The signal is closeness in time, not the speaker’s resolve.

That’s why sto per partire and partirò aren’t interchangeable. Sto per partire means “I’m about to leave, I’m already at the door”. Partirò just means “I will leave” at some unspecified future moment. If Lazzaro shouts il taxi sta per arrivare! from the kitchen, Tea knows to grab her jacket right now. If he says il taxi arriverà, she has time to finish her coffee.

Stavo per chiamarti: the imperfect of italian stare per infinitive

The most useful past form of italian stare per infinitive is the imperfect: stavo, stavi, stava, stavamo, stavate, stavano. The imperfect describes an action that was on the verge of happening but was interrupted, or was about to happen at a given moment in the past. It’s a workhorse in everyday storytelling.

• Stavo per uscire quando ha squillato il telefono.
  I was about to leave when the phone rang.
• Tea stava per ordinare un caffè quando ha visto Lazzaro entrare in pasticceria.
  Tea was about to order a coffee when she saw Lazzaro come into the pastry shop.
• Lazzaro stava per chiamarti, perché non ti sei fatta sentire?
  Lazzaro was just about to call you. why didn’t you get in touch?
• Stavamo per andarcene dal trabocco quando hanno servito il pesce.
  We were about to leave the trabocco when they brought out the fish.
• I clienti stavano per protestare quando è arrivato il dolce.
  The customers were about to complain when dessert arrived.

Two things to notice. First, the imperfect stavo per + infinitive often pairs with a passato prossimo or another imperfect that breaks the imminence: stavo per uscire quando ha squillato. Italian loves this pattern because it captures the very Italian taste for almost-happened moments. Second, the perfect sono stato per doesn’t exist in this construction. Italian stare per infinitive lives in the present and imperfect only. If you need a completed past, paraphrase with quasi + verb or per poco non + verb.

Sta per piovere: when the subject is the weather

One of the cleanest tests for understanding italian stare per infinitive is the weather. Italian happily says sta per piovere, sta per nevicare, sta per cominciare un temporale sull’Adriatico. The subject here is impersonal: there’s no one intending anything, just nature about to do its thing. Compare with the more formal cousins: you can’t say è in procinto di piovere because that construction needs a willing agent. Stare per is uniquely flexible.

• Sta per piovere, prendiamo l’ombrello prima di scendere al trabocco.
  It’s about to rain. let’s grab the umbrella before going down to the trabocco.
• Stava per scoppiare un temporale sopra Vasto.
  A storm was about to break over Vasto.
• Sta per albeggiare, il pescatore è già al pontile.
  Dawn is about to break. the fisherman is already at the pier.
• Sta per finire la primavera, presto sarà tempo di mare.
  Spring is about to end. soon it’ll be sea-bathing weather.

This impersonal flexibility is one of the reasons italian stare per infinitive is so common in news headlines and weather reports. You’ll hear la borsa sta per chiudere, il sole sta per tramontare, il film sta per cominciare: all events with no agent, all naturally expressed with stare per.

Italian stare per infinitive vs stare + gerundio

These two constructions look similar but mean opposite things. Sto per mangiare means “I’m about to eat” (food on the table, fork in hand, action not yet started). Sto mangiando means “I’m eating right now” (action already in progress, mouth full). The little word per changes everything, and so does the form of the second verb: infinitive for the imminent action, gerund for the ongoing one.

• Tea sta per leggere il giornale.
  Tea is about to read the newspaper.
• Tea sta leggendo il giornale.
  Tea is reading the newspaper (right now).
• Lazzaro sta per cucinare il pesce.
  Lazzaro is about to cook the fish.
• Lazzaro sta cucinando il pesce.
  Lazzaro is cooking the fish (right now).
• I bocconotti stanno per uscire dal forno.
  The bocconotti pastries are about to come out of the oven.
• I bocconotti stanno cuocendo nel forno.
  The bocconotti pastries are baking in the oven.

Here’s a memory hook: per + infinitive means “in a moment”, with the action ahead; + gerundio means “right now”, with the action in progress. The difference is night and day for a native speaker, even though both start with sto, stai, sta. Practise the contrast by taking any common verb and saying both forms aloud: sto per scrivere / sto scrivendo, sto per pagare / sto pagando, sto per partire / sto partendo.

Italian stare per infinitive vs the simple future

The Italian simple future (partirò, mangerò, scriverò) lives on the same continuum as italian stare per infinitive, but it covers a much wider window. Partirò domani means “I’ll leave tomorrow”; sto per partire means “I’m leaving in the next minute or two”. When the future is right around the corner, Italians prefer stare per; when it’s hours or days away, the simple future or the present indicative takes over.

• Sto per chiamarti.
  I’m about to call you (in the next thirty seconds).
• Ti chiamerò più tardi.
  I’ll call you later (tonight, tomorrow, whenever).
• La pasticceria sta per chiudere.
  The pastry shop is about to close (in five minutes).
• La pasticceria chiuderà alle otto.
  The pastry shop will close at eight.
• Margherita sta per laurearsi.
  Margherita is about to graduate (this week or next).
• Margherita si laureerà a luglio.
  Margherita will graduate in July.

If you’re not sure which one to use, ask yourself: would the action happen in the time it takes to finish my coffee? If yes, stare per. If you’d need to check a calendar, simple future.

Formal cousins: essere sul punto di, essere in procinto di

Italian has two more elevated ways to say “about to”: essere sul punto di + infinitive and essere in procinto di + infinitive. Both work like stare per, but they belong to written or formal spoken Italian: news articles, business emails, official announcements. They also carry a subtle restriction: they presuppose an intentional agent. You can say era sul punto di partire (“he was about to leave”), but you cannot say era in procinto di piovere for “it was about to rain”. Weather has no intention.

• Lazzaro era sul punto di chiamarti, perché non ti sei fatta sentire?
  Lazzaro was on the verge of calling you. why didn’t you get in touch?
• Il sindaco è in procinto di firmare il decreto sulla pesca costiera.
  The mayor is on the verge of signing the coastal fishing decree.
• Eravamo sul punto di andarcene quando hanno servito il pesce.
  We were on the verge of leaving when they brought out the fish.
• L’azienda è in procinto di aprire una nuova sede a Pescara.
  The company is on the verge of opening a new branch in Pescara.

For everyday Italian, stick with stare per. Treccani classifies essere in procinto di as belonging to formal registers, and that matches what you’ll observe: Italians use stare per in conversation roughly nine times out of ten.

Five traps English speakers fall into

These are the five mistakes English speakers make when first using italian stare per infinitive.

Trap 1: Translating “going to” with vado a

English “I’m going to call you” doesn’t translate as vado a chiamarti. Vado a + infinitive only works when there’s actual physical movement to a place: vado a comprare il giornale (“I’m going out to buy the paper”). For the imminent-future meaning of “I’m going to + verb”, use italian stare per infinitive: sto per chiamarti. The online forums are full of learners who get caught by this calque from English.

Trap 2: Dropping per before the infinitive

Sto uscire isn’t Italian. The per is mandatory: sto per uscire. Without it, the construction collapses and the listener will likely wait for you to continue the sentence. Treat stare per as a single unit of meaning. one verb plus its preposition.

Trap 3: Using stare per in compound tenses

You cannot say sono stato per uscire in this construction. Italian stare per infinitive only appears in the present and the imperfect tenses. If you need a completed past meaning like “I almost did X”, switch to per poco non + verb or quasi + verb: per poco non sono caduto, quasi cadevo dalle scale. Stare per is for ongoing or remembered imminence, not for finished events.

Trap 4: Confusing stare per with stare + gerundio

This is the single biggest pitfall. Sto per mangiare means “I’m about to eat” (not started yet). Sto mangiando means “I’m eating” (in progress). The form of the second verb tells you everything: infinitive after per, gerund without it. If you mix them up, you flip the meaning entirely.

Trap 5: Using stare per for vague future plans

Italian stare per infinitive is for the next few seconds or minutes, not for next week. Don’t say sto per andare a Lecce il mese prossimo. Use the present or the future instead: vado a Lecce il mese prossimo or andrò a Lecce il mese prossimo. Stare per is reserved for genuinely imminent action.

Cheat sheet

Use this cheat sheet to pick the right form when you mean “about to” in Italian. The decision rests on three questions: how soon is the action, is there a willing agent, and what register do you need.

Situation	Form	Italian example	English
Action in next seconds (present)	sto per + infinitive	Sto per uscire.	I’m about to leave.
Action in next seconds (you)	stai per + infinitive	Stai per perdere il treno.	You’re about to miss the train.
Action in next seconds (he/she)	sta per + infinitive	Tea sta per chiamarti.	Tea is about to call you.
Action in next seconds (we)	stiamo per + infinitive	Stiamo per chiudere.	We’re about to close.
Action in next seconds (they)	stanno per + infinitive	I clienti stanno per arrivare.	The customers are about to arrive.
About to happen, interrupted in past	stavo per + infinitive	Stavo per uscire quando ha squillato il telefono.	I was about to leave when the phone rang.
Weather or impersonal subject	sta per + infinitive	Sta per piovere.	It’s about to rain.
Formal, written register	essere in procinto di / sul punto di	Il sindaco è in procinto di firmare.	The mayor is on the verge of signing.
Vague future plan	simple future or present	Andrò a Lecce il mese prossimo.	I’ll go to Lecce next month.
Action in progress (not imminent)	sto + gerundio	Sto mangiando.	I’m eating.

Dialogue at the trabocco in Vasto

Tea and Lazzaro run a small trabocco restaurant on the Adriatic coast just outside Vasto, in Abruzzo. It’s a Saturday afternoon in late spring, and the first customers of the evening are about to arrive. Tea is at the pasticceria in town picking up the last tray of bocconotti while Lazzaro waits at the trabocco. Notice how italian stare per infinitive carries the whole scene.

What to notice in the dialogue

• Sto per uscire dalla pasticceria: classic imminent action, Tea is at the door.
• Stanno per uscire dal forno: subject is the pastries themselves, no intention needed.
• Sta per piovere: impersonal weather subject, italian stare per infinitive’s sweet spot.
• Stavo per ordinare anche un caffè: imperfect with the typical “I was about to … but” pattern.
• Stavo per chiamarti proprio per dirti: the very Italian taste for almost-coincidence.
• Sto finendo adesso l’ultimo: the contrast. gerundio for action in progress, not stare per.

Mini-challenge

Italian stare per infinitive clicks once you stop translating “about to” word by word and start picturing the time frame: the next few breaths, not the next few days. Read examples aloud, listen for stare per in films and news clips, and try slipping it into your daily Italian. Most learners find italian stare per infinitive becomes second nature after a week of attention. Pair this guide with the quiz below to lock in the pattern, and come back to italian stare per infinitive next time you catch yourself reaching for the simple future when the action is actually right around the corner.

Test your understanding

Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about italian stare per infinitive.

Frequently asked questions

These questions about italian stare per infinitive come from real conversations among Italian learners on language forums. The construction is documented in the Treccani vocabolario entry on stare, which classifies stare per as a perifrasi verbale of imminence.

Related guides

• Italian Stare + Gerundio: Sto Facendo, Stavo, Starà (A2/B1)
• Italian PER Idioms: Stare Per, Per Poco Non and More
• Italian Stare a Fare, Trovarsi a Fare (B1)
• Treccani vocabolario: stare