Lesson 141: Understanding verbs -- bastare

Bastare is a verb that means:

• to be sufficient
• to be enough
• to suffice

It can also mean:

• to last
  
  Spero che i soldi mi bastino il resto della settimana.
  I hope that the money lasts me the rest of the week.
  

Bastare is used in the third person singular or plural, depending upon the person/thing that is sufficent, that is enough, or that suffices (or lasts) -- like piacere:

• Mi basta una pausa corta.
  A short break is enough for me.
  
  
• Ti bastano due ore?
  Two hours is sufficient for you?
  

Bastare is like piacere in that it takes indirect objects -- remember that when indirect objects are anything but pronouns, that the preposition, a, precedes the indirect object:

• Mi bastano due settimane di vacanze.
  Two weeks of vacation are enough for me.
  
  
• A Gianna bastano due settimane di vacanza.
  Two weeks of vacation are enough for Gianna.
  

Bastare can be followed by nouns (as seen in the example above) or infinitives:

• Ti basta dormire solo un po' di ore ogni notte?
  Is it enough for you to sleep only a few hours every night?

Basta che requires the subjunctive (il congiuntivo), but only when the subject of the two clauses differs:

• Basta che abbiate solo 10 euro?
  Is it enough that you have only 10 euro?

Bastare is an intransitive verb and takes essere in compound tenses (such as the passato prossimo). The past participle is bastato.