The present tense of regular -ire verbs (-isc-)
The third group of verbs consists of those that end in -ire.
aprire, coprire, dormire, offrire, partire, scoprire, seguire, sentire, servire, soffrire…
to open, to cover, to sleep, to offer, to leave/depart, to discover, to follow, to hear/smell, to serve/to be necessary, to suffer…
There are two ways of conjugating the regular verbs in this third group.
Tu dormi
Lui/lei dorme
Noi dormiamo
Voi dormite
Loro dormono
Anna parte domani.
Anna leaves tomorrow.
Most of these verbs, even though they are regular, require the insertion of -isc- in the conjugations for io (I), tu (you), lui/lei (he/she) and loro (they).
Tu preferisci
Lui/lei preferisce
Noi preferiamo
Voi preferite
Loro preferiscono
Tu capisci
Lui/lei capisce
Noi capiamo
Voi capite
Loro capiscono
Finisco di lavorare alle 18.
I finish work at 6 p.m.
Il medico guarisce i pazienti.
The doctor cures the patients.
The most common -ire verbs that require the insertion of -isc- are: agire (to take action), capire (to understand), colpire (to strike), costruire (to build), definire (to define), finire (to finish), gestire (to manage), guarire (to cure), inserire (to insert), obbedire (to obey), preferire (to prefer), pulire (to clean), restituire (to return/restore), spedire (to send/ship) and suggerire (to suggest).
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