Regular -ire Verbs

The -ire verbs are the third regular family in the Italian present tense, and they come with a small twist: they split into two subgroups with slightly different conjugations. The first subgroup — verbs like partire (to leave), dormire (to sleep), aprire (to open), sentire (to hear/feel), offrire (to offer), seguire (to follow) — takes the endings -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono. So partire becomes parto, parti, parte, partiamo, partite, partono. The second, much larger subgroup inserts -isc- between the stem and the ending in the io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms. Verbs like capire (to understand), finire (to finish), preferire (to prefer), pulire (to clean), spedire (to send) work like this: capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono.

The -isc- insertion catches a lot of learners off guard, but there's no escaping it — capo instead of capisco is simply not Italian. The noi and voi forms (capiamo, capite) don't take -isc-, which creates a nice rhythmic break in the conjugation. A useful memory trick: picture the -isc- forms shaped like a pyramid on a page, with four -isc- forms on the outside (top and bottom) and the two unchanged forms (noi, voi) in the middle. Unfortunately, there's no reliable rule for deciding which -ire verbs take -isc- and which don't — you simply have to learn it for each verb, though dictionaries and textbooks will flag the -isc- ones for you.

Both subgroups cover essential actions for everyday life: Dormo otto ore (I sleep eight hours), Apriamo la finestra (We open the window), Capisci l'italiano? (Do you understand Italian?), Preferisco il caffè (I prefer coffee), Finiscono il lavoro (They finish the work), Parto domani (I'm leaving tomorrow), Sento la musica (I hear the music). You'll meet these verbs constantly when talking about travel, daily routines, preferences, and feelings, so the payoff for mastering them is huge.

A pronunciation note: the -sc- in capisco, preferisco, finisco, pulisco is pronounced like the English "sk" because it's followed by -o (a back vowel), while the -sci-/-sce- in capisci, preferisce is pronounced "sh" because it's followed by a front vowel. This is the same rule that turns scienza into "shen-tsa" and scuola into "skwo-la." Training your ear for this split right from the start will save you from a common beginner pronunciation pitfall. The exercises below will give you plenty of practice with both types side by side, so you can build a reliable instinct for the -isc- pattern without having to pause and think. Once these forms are automatic, you'll have conquered the entire regular present tense — all three conjugations — and be ready for the irregular verbs that come next.