Il presente dei verbi in -ire

Present of -ire Verbs

THE SECOND CONJUGATION: -IRE

To conjugate a regular verb of the third conjugation, first remove the letters -ire from the infinitive to find the stem:

infinitive: dormire / capire
stem: dorm- / cap-

Then, simply add the specific endings to that stem. However, keep in mind that third-conjugation verbs follow two distinct patterns depending on which group the verb belongs to:

standard -ire verbs (1st group): For verbs such as dormire (to sleep), you add the standard endings: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono.
"-isc-" verbs (2nd group): On the other hand, verbs like capire (to understand) require an extra step. You must insert the suffix -isc- between the stem and the ending in all forms except for noi and voi. This results in the following pattern: -isco, -isci, -isce, -iamo, -ite, -iscono.

While -isc- verbs aren't the majority, there isn’t a clear-cut rule to tell them apart from standard ones just by looking at the infinitive. For this reason, the most reliable way to master them is simply through practice and a bit of memorization.

The good news? The list of essential ones is actually quite manageable! Here are the most common -isc- verbs encountered in everyday conversation:

Preferire: to prefer
(Io preferisco, tu preferisci, lui / lei preferisce...)

Finire: to finish
(Io finisco, tu finisci, lui / lei finisce...)

Pulire: to clean
(Io pulisco, tu pulisci, lui / lei pulisce...)

Costruire: to build
(Io costruisco, tu costruisci, lui / lei costruisce...)

Spedire: to send
(Io spedisco, tu spedisci, lui / lei spedisce...)

ESERCIZI