Most Used ‘-ISC’ Verbs in Italian

As you already know, there are three groups of verbs.

1st (-ARE verbs)	cucinare	to cook	mangiare, studiare, guardare
2nd (-ERE verbs)	scrivere	to write	leggere, vedere, vincere
3rd (-IRE) verbs)	dormire	to sleep	aprire, partire, finire

Most of the “ire” verbs follows a regular conjugation, like in the following chart :

Io	dorm-o	I sleep
Tu	dorm-i	You sleep (singular, informal)
Lui/Lei	dorm-e	He/She sleeps
Noi	dorm-iamo	We sleep
Voi	dorm-ite	You sleep
Loro	dorm-ono	They sleep

The -ISC verbs

The -ISC conjugation pattern is a subset of the Italian 3rd conjugation (-ire). This subset of verbs, such as finire, capire, and pulire, add “-isc” in the present tense for the first, second, third persons singular, and third person plural. The “noi” and “voi” forms do not use “-isc”. Luckly, there are not many verbs that follow these conjugation pattern.

Irregular conjugation of ‘-ISC’ verbs in Italian

Io	cap-isc-o	I understand
Tu	cap-isc-i	You understand (singular, informal)
Lui/Lei	cap-isc-e	He/She understands
Noi	capiamo	We understand
Voi	capite	You understand
Loro	cap-isc-ono	They understand

Pronunciation Rule

The first person singular (io capisco – I understand) and third person plural (loro capiscono) have a hard sound in the combination ‘sc,’ which should be pronounced like “skateboard.”

Instead, the second and third person singular (tu capisci – you understand / lui capisce – he understands) should be pronounced as in “shoot.

Pronoun	Conjugation	Pronunciation
Io	capisc-o	‘sk’ as in “skateboard”
Tu	capisc-i	‘ch’ as in “shoot”
Lui/Lei	capisc-e	‘ch’ as in “shoot”
Noi	capiam-o	‘sk’ as in “skateboard”
Voi	capite	‘sk’ as in “skateboard”
Loro	capisc-ono	‘sk’ as in “skateboard”

List of the most used “-ISC verbs” in Italian.

preferire	to prefer	preferisco, preferisci, preferisce, preferiamo, preferite, preferiscono
finire	to finish	finisco, finisci, finisce, finiamo, finite, finiscono
pulire	to clean	pulisco, pulisci, pulisce, puliamo, pulite, puliscono
spedire	to ship	spedisco, spedisci, spedisce, spediamo, spedite, spediscono
costruire	to build	costruisco, costruisci, costruisce, costruiamo, costruite, costruiscono
chiarire	to clear	chiarisco, chiarisci, chiarisce, chiariamo, chiarite, chiariscono
digerire	to digest	digerisco, digerisci, digerisce, digeriamo, digerite, digeriscono
contribuire	to contribute	contribuisco, contribuisci, contribuisce, contribuiamo, contribuite, contribuiscono
fiorire	to blossom	fiorisco, fiorisci, fiorisce, fioriamo, fiorite, fioriscono
guarire	to recover	guarisco, guarisci, guarisce, guariamo, guarite, guariscono
inserire	to insert	inserisco, inserisci, inserisce, inseriamo, inserite, inseriscono
reagire	to react	reagisco, reagisci, reagisce, reagiamo, reagite, reagiscono
restituire	to return sth back	restituisco, restituisci, restituisce, restituiamo, restituite, restituiscono
unire	to unite	unisco, unisci, unisce, uniamo, unite, uniscono

Is there any way to determine when to use the -isc- conjugation?

Unfortunately, there is no strict rule, but rather a trend. Verbs whose fifth-to-last letter in the infinitive is a vowel tend to use the -isc- conjugation, though this is not always true.

Examples include:

• Finire (to finish)
• Pulire (to clean)
• Spedire (to ship)
• Proibire (to prohibit)

However, if the fifth-to-last letter in the infinitive happens to be a consonant, the verb follows the regular conjugation.

Examples include:

• Aprire (to open)
• Dormire (to sleep)
• Offrire (to offer)
• Seguire (to follow)