The ire Verb Family Linfinito n n Linfinito

The –ire Verb Family

L’infinito n n L’infinito means “the infinitive” in Italian. It looks like this: mangiare, ballare, spendere. It doesn’t tell us who is doing that action. We know that we have to change the ending of the infinitive when we want to be specific in a sentence. We know how to change –are verbs and –ere verbs. Now let’s look at –ire verbs!

Ripasso: altri verbi Let’s review our other verb endings first: What are the endings for –are verbs? -o -iamo -i -ate -a -ano n

Ripasso: altri verbi Let’s review our other verb family: What are the endings for –ere verbs? n -o -i -e -iamo -ete -ono

Verbi -ire What are the –ire endings? -o –iamo -i –ite -e -ono What do you notice about –ire and –ere endings? n

Paragoniamo (Let’s compare!) Vediamo (Let’s see): -ere vs. -o -iamo -i -ete -e -ono n -o -i -e -ire –iamo –ite -ono

Sono simili! (They’re similar!) -ere and –ire endings are almost all the same EXCEPT in the “voi” form. –ere verbs have –ete –ire verbs have –ite

Esempi Dormire – to sleep Aprire – to open Offrire – to offer Partire – to leave, to depart Seguire – to follow Sentire – to hear Servire – to serve

Not so fast! Some –ire verbs add an –isc before the ending we are used to adding on. For example : pulisco, pulisce, finisco, finisci, capisci, preferiscono…

-isc with -ire These are sometimes called “boot verbs” because the –isc is added into all the forms except “noi” and “voi”. Esempio: capire – to understand Capisco Capiamo Capisci Capite Capiscono

-isc If you draw a line around the verb conjugations that add the –isc, you will see a boot! Vediamo (Let’s see): finire – to finish Finisco Finiamo Finisci Finite Finiscono

Which –ire verbs get –isc? The –ire verb family is weird. Some –ire verbs get –isc added into them, and others don’t. How do we know when to do that? Give them the “ 5 letter test”!

5 letter test Look at the –ire verb in its infinitive form. Let’s take “pulire” – “to clean”. Start at the END of the word, on the “e”. Count back 5 letters. Do we land on a vowel? 1: e , 2: r, 3: i, 4: l, 5: u YES!

5 letter test Since we landed on a vowel, we know to add in “isc” for all our forms EXCEPT noi and voi. Pulisco Puliamo Pulisci Pulite Puliscono We still have to add our normal endings, too!

5 letter test Let’s try another one: dormire. 1: e, 2: r, 3: i, 4: m, 5: r I didn’t land on a vowel, so this is regular. Dormo Dormiamo Dormite Dormono

Esempi -isc verbs from the –ire family: Capire – to understand Finire – to finish Pulire – to clean Preferire – to prefer

2 modi (2 ways) n So, we can say that there are 2 ways to conjugate –ire verbs. 1. ) Regularly, like “dormire” (dormo, dormi…) 2. ) Irregularly, when you add in the –isc, like “capire” (capisco, capisci…)