The immediate future in Italian: STARE PER + infinitive
In Italian, besides the simple future (e.g. Domani mangerò la pizza – Tomorrow I will eat pizza), there is a very common way to express an action that will happen in a very short time: the construction with stare per + infinitive.
STARE PER + infinitive: the immediate future in Italian
verb stare (conjugated) + per + verb in the infinitive
Sto per uscire → it means I am going to leave in just a few minutes.
Marco sta per telefonarti → it means he is going to call you in a moment.
Stavamo per iniziare la lezione → it indicates that the action was just about to start.
This form is useful because it highlights the temporal closeness of the action, something that is happening right after the moment of speaking.
Conclusion
Be careful: stare per is not used for actions that will take place in the distant future, but only for those that are about to happen immediately.
For learners of Italian, knowing and being able to use the immediate future with stare per is very important: it allows them to express themselves with greater precision, to make their speech more natural and lively, and above all, to get closer to the way native speakers communicate in everyday life!