Lesson 8: -ERE and -IRE verbs; six key irregulars

Part 1: Regular -ERE

Infinitives in -ere: prendere (to take), scrivere (to write), vedere (to see), leggere (to read). Chop off -ere, add:

Person	Ending	prendere	scrivere
io	-o	prendo	scrivo
tu	-i	prendi	scrivi
lui/lei	-e	prende	scrive
noi	-iamo	prendiamo	scriviamo
voi	-ete	prendete	scrivete
loro	-ono	prendono	scrivono

Compare with -are: the endings are almost the same, with three differences: lui/lei — -e (not -a), voi — -ete (not -ate), loro — -ono (not -ano).

Stress

Same logic: in the loro form, stress lives far from the end:

• PRENdo, PRENdi, PRENde, prenDIAmo, prenDEte, PRENdono
• SCRIvo, SCRIvi, SCRIve, scriVIAmo, scriVEte, SCRIvono

Notice: prendono — PREN-do-no, not "pren-OH-no". Likewise scrivono, leggono, vedono.

---

Part 2: Regular -IRE — normal type

Infinitives in -ire: partire (to leave), dormire (to sleep), aprire (to open), sentire (to hear, to feel). Chop off -ire, add:

Person	Ending	partire	dormire
io	-o	parto	dormo
tu	-i	parti	dormi
lui/lei	-e	parte	dorme
noi	-iamo	partiamo	dormiamo
voi	-ite	partite	dormite
loro	-ono	partono	dormono

Notice: the only difference from -ere is in voi: -ite (not -ete). The other five endings are identical.

---

Part 3: Regular -IRE — the -isc- type

The majority of -ire verbs (about two-thirds) conjugate with an inserted -isc- in the io, tu, lui/lei, loro forms. In noi and voi there is no insert.

English speakers, brace yourselves: English has nothing remotely like this. There's no English verb that grows an extra syllable in four forms and not in two. You just have to drill it. The good news: once you know it, it's predictable.

The verb finire (to finish):

Person	finire	What happens
io	finisco	stem + -isc + -o
tu	finisci	stem + -isc + -i
lui/lei	finisce	stem + -isc + -e
noi	finiamo	like a normal -ire
voi	finite	like a normal -ire
loro	finiscono	stem + -isc + -ono

The same pattern for:

• capire (to understand) → capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono
• preferire (to prefer) → preferisco, preferisci, preferisce, preferiamo, preferite, preferiscono
• pulire (to clean) → pulisco, pulisci, pulisce, puliamo, pulite, puliscono
• spedire (to send) → spedisco…

How do you know which type? A dictionary marks -ire verbs: either "(isc)" — meaning insert is required — or unmarked, meaning it's the normal type (partire, dormire). The most common "normal" -ire verbs are: partire, dormire, sentire, aprire, offrire, soffrire, servire, seguire. Almost every other -ire verb is -isc-.

Pronunciation: in the forms finisci, finisce the letters sc before i/e are soft: "fi-NEE-shee, fi-NEE-sheh". In finisco, finiscono — hard: "fi-NEES-koh, fi-NEES-koh-noh". Same L1 rule: sc before e/i is soft (English "sh"); before o/a/u — hard (English "sk").

---

Part 4: Six key irregulars

These six verbs are the skeleton of spoken Italian. Without them you can barely say anything meaningful.

fare (to do, to make)

Person	Form
io	faccio
tu	fai
lui/lei	fa
noi	facciamo
voi	fate
loro	fanno

Usage: Cosa fai? — "What are you doing?"; Faccio il medico — "I'm a doctor" (literally "I make/do the doctor"); Fa freddo — "It's cold"; Facciamo una passeggiata — "We're going for a walk".

Note on profession: English says "I'm a doctor" — to be. Italian commonly says Faccio il medico — to do + the article. You can also say Sono medico; both work. Italian leans on fare here.

andare (to go)

Person	Form
io	vado
tu	vai
lui/lei	va
noi	andiamo
voi	andate
loro	vanno

Notice: io, tu, lui/lei, loro — the stem changes to va-/vad-. Noi, voi — regular forms from andare. The same split happens with venire, dare, stare.

Vado a Roma. Vai al lavoro? Va bene! Andiamo! ("Let's go!")

venire (to come)

Person	Form
io	vengo
tu	vieni
lui/lei	viene
noi	veniamo
voi	venite
loro	vengono

Da dove vieni? — "Where are you from?"; Vengo dalla Russia — "I'm from Russia".

stare (to be, to stay, to feel)

Person	Form
io	sto
tu	stai
lui/lei	sta
noi	stiamo
voi	state
loro	stanno

Compare with essere (L4): stare means "to be" in the sense of "to feel, to be located, to be doing" (temporary state, place). Essere means "to be" in the sense of "to be (something permanently)".

• Come stai? — "How are you?" (feeling)
• Sto bene. — "I'm fine."
• Sono italiano. — "I'm Italian." (essere — permanent)

English collapses both meanings into "to be". Italian splits them — like Spanish ser/estar.

dare (to give)

Person	Form
io	do
tu	dai
lui/lei	dà (with the accent, to distinguish it from da — "from")
noi	diamo
voi	date
loro	danno

Do un libro a Marco. — "I give a book to Marco."

dire (to say, to tell)

Person	Form
io	dico
tu	dici
lui/lei	dice
noi	diciamo
voi	dite
loro	dicono

Notice: dire conjugates like an -ere verb (even though its infinitive ends in -ire). That's because the Latin original was dicere. Historical memory.

The difference between parlare and dire:

• parlare = "to speak" (in general, a language, with someone): Parlo italiano. Parlo con Anna.
• dire = "to say, to tell" (conveying content): Dico la verità. Dico che…

English smashes both into "speak/say/tell" with subtle distinctions; Italian is cleaner here.

---

Part 5: Comparison table of endings

Person	-ARE	-ERE	-IRE (normal)	-IRE (-isc-)
io	-o	-o	-o	-isco
tu	-i	-i	-i	-isci
lui/lei	-a	-e	-e	-isce
noi	-iamo	-iamo	-iamo	-iamo
voi	-ate	-ete	-ite	-ite
loro	-ano	-ono	-ono	-iscono

Three things to memorise: lui/lei — -a for -are, -e for the rest. Voi — vowel matches the infinitive (a/e/i). Loro — -ano for -are, -ono for the rest.

---