essere and stare

I have just gone back to do a review on some of the very basic lessons and find some confusion still with essare and stare. From the lesson "The verb essere ('to be") is mainly used when we describe ourselves as: "I am tall" or "I am slim". The verb stare (for "to be", "to stay") is mainly used when we talk about how we are, in terms of feelings." One of the examples has sono stanca (I am tired). As tiredness is a feeling, would it be better to say sto stanca?

Hi Jon D10 I agree it is confusing and your question made me think about these two verbs again. As you know Essere means to be or to exist. Stare usually means to stay but is used is some circumstances to mean to be. Essere is used for more permanent states e.g. Physical state or who we are, Sono Michele, soon medico, sono alto etc. Stare is used though in some very common contexts, the most common I believe are 1. to say hw or ask how someone is (regarding health) e.g Sto bene (I'm well) Come sta/stai (How are you formal/informal) or 2. to make continuous tenses e.g. sto studiando I am studying (at this moment and it is continuing) 3. It can also be used to indicate the precise location of something e.g La casa sta sulla collina (the house is on the hill) Regarding feelings you can say sono triste (I am sad) sono felice (I am happy) and sono arrabbiata(I am angry) and feeling tired is the same Sono stanco. If it your health though it is definitely Stare - sto bene, sto male etc. I am not sure this helps but I thought I might as well write it down as I thought about it. Buona fortuna!

Grazie Mike. Aprezzo i vostri pensieri.