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'Stare' where English says 'be': 'stare attento', 'stare zitto' and friends

English uses be for almost everything: be careful, be quiet, be standing, be home. Italian has two verbs that can translate be, essere and stare. A small group of everyday expressions about behaviour and physical states uses stare, not essere: stare attento, stare zitto, stare in piedi and stare a casa.

English speakers tend to reach for essere because it is the first verb they learn for be. The result, sii attento or sei zitto?, sounds odd or means something slightly different. The good news is that these expressions work as fixed chunks, so you can learn them whole.

Word list
stare a casaA2 to stay at home sto a casa stasera = I'm staying in tonight stare attentomA2 to take care stai attento! = be careful! stare in piediA2 to stand sto in piedi = I'm standing stare tranquillomB1 to keep quiet stai tranquillo! = don't worry! / keep calm! stare zittoB1 to keep quiet state zitti! = be quiet!
How it works

Think of stare here as keep or stay: it describes how someone behaves or holds themselves for a while, often because they have been asked to. Essere describes what someone or something is. Compare the two:

Marco è una persona attenta.
(Marco is an attentive person.)
Marco, stai attento!
(Marco, be careful!)

The first sentence describes a character trait. The second tells Marco how to behave right now. Rule of thumb: if English be could be replaced by keep, stay or pay attention, Italian probably wants stare.

The words

Stare attento means to be careful or to pay attention. It is very common as a warning or an instruction. The adjective agrees with the person: attento, attenta, attenti, attente.

Stai attenta, la strada è scivolosa!
(Be careful, the road is slippery!)
Ragazzi, state attenti alla lezione.
(Guys, pay attention to the lesson.)

Stare zitto means to keep quiet. Like attento, zitto changes to match the person.

State zitti, il bambino dorme!
(Be quiet, the baby is sleeping!)
Durante la riunione Anna sta sempre zitta.
(Anna always keeps quiet during the meeting.)

Stare in piedi means to stand, to be on your feet. It is the usual way to describe standing as a position you hold.

Sull'autobus sto in piedi, non ci sono posti.
(I'm standing on the bus, there are no seats.)

Stare a casa means to stay at home, to stay in. English often just says be home or stay in.

Stasera sto a casa, sono stanca.
(I'm staying in tonight, I'm tired.)

The same pattern shows up in other expressions you will meet soon, such as stare fermo (to keep still) and stare tranquillo (to stay calm, not to worry).

Watch out
The past tense looks like essere

Stare forms the passato prossimo with essere, and its past participle is stato, the same as that of essere. So sono stato attento is correct, and the participle agrees with the subject.

Domenica siamo stati a casa tutto il giorno.
(On Sunday we stayed at home all day.)
Sono a casa vs. sto a casa

Both exist. Sono a casa simply says where you are right now (I'm home). Sto a casa suggests choosing to stay there instead of going out.

Non esco, sto a casa a studiare.
(I'm not going out, I'm staying home to study.)
Imperatives

The typical mistake is using the imperative of essere. Say stai attento! and stai zitto!, not sii attento! or sii zitto!. For the negative, use non plus the infinitive: non stare in piedi, siediti! (don't stand, sit down!).

Summary

When English be describes how someone behaves or holds themselves for a while (be careful, be quiet, be standing, stay home), Italian uses stare: stare attento, stare zitto, stare in piedi, stare a casa. Make the adjective agree with the person, and remember that the past tense is sono stato, with essere as the auxiliary.