Essere vs. Fare

​Ciao everyone!

This morning, a longtime user asked a great question about Italian grammar. Since this is a pretty common topic, we thought we'd share it on the forum so all Rocket Italian users can benefit. If you have any ideas as to why essere “to be” is used in this context, feel free to share them! 

Here's the question: 

I was just wondering in the following why the verb essere is used and not fare. È ancora caldo! "(It) is still warm!"

Let us know what you come up with!

Indy

I would imagine it's because Fare is used to describe something a person ‘has’  whereas this comment is about the weather itelf, not a psron.

Ciao Indy and everyone on the forum :)

Thanks for sharing this intriguing question! It's wonderful to see such engagement with Italian grammar. Regarding the topic about why "essere" (to be) is used instead of "fare" (to do/make) in the statement "È ancora caldo!" (It is still warm!), the distinction lies in the nature of the verbs.

In Italian, "essere" is commonly used to express states, conditions, or characteristics, such as describing the weather ("È caldo" - It is hot) or physical states ("È stanco" - He is tired). On the other hand, "fare" typically refers to actions, activities, or processes, such as "fare la spesa" (to do the shopping) or "fare una passeggiata" (to take a walk).

In the sentence "È ancora caldo!" the focus is on describing the state of the weather (warm), rather than any specific action or activity. Hence, "essere" is the appropriate verb choice here.

Keep posting questions on the forum to share knowledge, learn, and get direct responses from Italian language experts. :)

Grazie mille e buon apprendimento! (Thank you very much and happy learning!)