Stare per + infinitive

[Devery]

I read somewhere that Stare per + infinitive means about to + verb. Is this true always?
The example they gave was mi sto per laureare (I am about to graduate).

Can I use stare + infinitive always to say I'm about to? Other examples I can think of (are they correct?):

Mi sto per partire (I'm about to leave)
Mi sto per scoprire (I'm about to discover)

Do these other samples cut it? Or do they sound horrendous? If they are bad how does one express the concept of I/he/she/we/they are about to?


Thanks

[Geoff]

While waiting for a native speaker to give a definitive response, I believe that "stare per" can always be used to say "to be about to" (although there are, of course, other ways of saying the same thing).

I think your examples should read "Sto per partire" and "Sto per scoprire", however, as parire and scoprire (in this context) are not reflexive verbs.

[Devery]

While waiting for a native speaker to give a definitive response, I believe that "stare per" can always be used to say "to be about to" (although there are, of course, other ways of saying the same thing).

I think your examples should read "Sto per partire" and "Sto per scoprire", however, as parire and scoprire (in this context) are not reflexive verbs.

I wondered about the "mi," I wasn't sure if it should be included always (non reflexive--just a pronoun), or if it was specifically for that verb (I now see that it is laurearsi which is obviously reflexive).

So....

Sto per partire....
Sto per andare a letto....
Sto per scoprire qualcosa......


I am about to.......

[polideuce]

In effetti "mi" in "sto per partire", ad esempio, non ci vuole.
Quello che dici è corretto e "i'm about to" può rendere "sto per... fare qualcosa", però a volte "sto per" suona male e quindi si usano altre forme; anche se di recente, specie nella lingua parlata, si tende a preferire una certa semplificazione.
"I'm about to leave" è corretto tradurlo come "Sto per partire" perchè il soggetto "io" è sottointeso; "mi sto per partire" in realtà ha un suo significato ma non traduce "i'm about to leave" in quanto vuol dire "mi sto per separare" in una forma, credo, desueta.
(se "sto per" non funziona nel contesto, perchè troppo semplice, posso sempre ricorrere alla forma "sono in procinto di"...)

[Paoloitaly]

Sto per partire
Sto per andare a letto
Sto per aprire la porta
Sto per cadere
BUT:
Sto per laurearmi or: Mi sto per laureare
Sto per vestirmi or: Mi sto per vestire

[Devery]

Thanks guys. Another useful expression in the bag.


I never knew there was a laurearsi. That is why I thought the expression had a "mi" before the sto. Now I know.

Grazie mille.

[Roby]

Devery

Here is another discussion on the same thing....
http://impariamo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17256

I have put your discussion in the lessons. Also , you can read the thread that Angela had written some time ago. I put your post there too.

[detigero]

Sorry to bring this post back but I'm just learning Italian, and finding out new things about it, that the teachers back when I was going to school failed to mention!

What I wanted to know is, is there a specific name for this tense?

[Geoff]

There is no specific name for it as far as I know. I don't think it is correct to call it a tense though.

[Peter]

You simply use whichever tense is appropriate. Because it is a means of expressing something that is about to happen, or be done, in the very near future, in most cases you would use the present tense.

"Hai scritto la lettera a tua nonna?" "Sto per scriverla"
"Have you written the letter to your grandmother?" "I am just about to write it"

Of course you can use the imperfect tense, as in this example:

"Stavo per scrivere una lettera a mia nonna quando squilò il telefono."
"I was about to write a letter to my grandmother when the telephone rang."

Hope this helps.