stare dietro

stare dietro

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to stay behind”.

Verb

stàre dietro (first-person singular present (with syntactic gemination after the verb) stò dietro, first-person singular past historic stétti dietro or (traditional) stètti dietro, past participle stàto dietro, first-person singular future starò dietro, first-person singular subjunctive stìa dietro, first-person singular imperfect subjunctive stéssi dietro, second-person singular imperative stài dietro or stà' dietro, auxiliary èssere) (intransitive)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see stare,‎ dietro.
2. to court (attempt to attract) [+ a (someone)]

   Synonyms: corteggiare, fare la corte, amoreggiare, flirtare

   sta dietro a una studentessa

   he's courting a (female) student

3. to take care (of); to keep up (with) [+ a (someone)]

   Synonyms: prendersi cura, curare, custodire, sorvegliare

   • 2012, John Green, Giorgia Grilli, transl., Colpa delle Stelle [The Fault in our Stars], Mondadori, page 53:

     «Devi sapere che Hazel è ancora ammalata, Augustus, e che lo sarà per il resto della sua vita. Lei vorrà starti dietro, ma i suoi polmoni...»

     "You have to understand that Hazel is still sick, Augustus, and will be for the rest of her life. She'll want to keep up with you, but her lungs..."

     (literally, “"You have to know that Hazel is still sick, Augustus, and that she will be for the rest of her life. She will want to keep up with you, but her lungs..."”)

   puoi stare dietro ai figli in mia assenza?

   can you take care of the kids while I'm gone?

4. to insist [+ a (someone) = to/with] (in order to gain something)

   Synonyms: insistere, impuntarsi; see also Thesaurus:ostinarsi

   sto dietro al capo per avere un aumento

   I'm insisting with the boss to get a raise