Capisco, finisci: -isc- verbs and question words

Capisco, capisci: -ire verbs with -isc-

Many -ire verbs add -isc- between the stem and the ending. It appears in the io, tu, lui / lei and loro forms, but not in noi and voi: capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono. The endings themselves are the ones you know from dormire. The dictionary form does not show which verbs do this, so learn them as a group: capire (to understand), finire (to finish, to end), preferire (to prefer), pulire (to clean), spedire (to send). The sound follows conosco / conosci: -isco and -iscono are “sk”, -isci and -isce are “sh”.

– Finite tardi oggi? – No, oggi finiamo presto.– Are you finishing late today? – No, today we finish early.

Chi? Che cosa? Quando? – question words

You already know come and dove. A question word goes first, then the verb, and a named subject usually comes after the verb: Dove lavora Marco? For “what” Italians say che cosa, or in everyday speech just cosa or che: Che cosa leggi? Cosa leggi? Quale (which) loses its final e before è, with no apostrophe: qual è. Quanto asks “how much”. And perché does two jobs: it asks “why?” and answers “because”: – Perché studi italiano? – Perché vivo a Roma.

– Perché studi italiano? – Perché lavoro a Roma.– Why are you studying Italian? – Because I work in Rome.