Parto alle otto e finisco alle cinque.I leave at eight and I finish at five.

Regular verbs ending in -ire follow two patterns. In the first, the endings are added to the stem as they are (partire). In the second, the syllable -isc- is inserted between the stem and the ending in four of the six forms (finire). Both groups are regular, but you learn which pattern each verb follows.

Quick shortcut: -ere verbs and -ire verbs of the first type differ only in voi (-ete vs -ite). In the second type, io, tu, lui / lei and loro add -isc-, while noi and voi do not.

Pattern 1: partire (to leave)

Person Form Example
io parto Parto domani. (I'm leaving tomorrow.)
tu parti Parti con il treno? (Are you leaving by train?)
lui / lei / Lei parte Il treno parte alle nove. (The train leaves at nine.)
noi partiamo Partiamo insieme. (We're leaving together.)
voi partite Partite presto? (Are you leaving early?)
loro partono Partono sabato. (They're leaving on Saturday.)

Other common verbs with this pattern: dormire (to sleep), aprire (to open), sentire (to hear, to feel), servire (to serve, to be needed), offrire (to offer), seguire (to follow), coprire (to cover).

Pattern 2: finire (to finish), with -isc-

Person Form Example
io finisco Finisco alle cinque. (I finish at five.)
tu finisci Finisci il libro? (Are you finishing the book?)
lui / lei / Lei finisce La lezione finisce alle tre. (The lesson ends at three.)
noi finiamo Finiamo insieme. (We're finishing together.)
voi finite Finite presto? (Are you finishing early?)
loro finiscono Finiscono alle sei. (They finish at six.)

Other common verbs with this pattern: capire (to understand), preferire (to prefer), pulire (to clean), costruire (to build), spedire (to send), restituire (to give back), suggerire (to suggest).

The ending -isc- is only an insertion: capire → capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono.

How do I know which pattern a verb follows?

Nothing in the infinitive shows it: partire and finire look alike, but parto and finisco do not. The pattern has to be learned verb by verb, and good dictionaries mark it (finire (-isc-)). Both groups contain very common verbs, so it helps to learn each new -ire verb with its pattern.

Pronunciation of -isc-

Before o, sc sounds like /sk/ (finisco, finiscono). Before i and e, sc sounds like the sh in shoe (finisci, finisce). In the forms with -isc-, stress falls on the i of -isc-: fi-NI-sco, fi-NI-sci, fi-NI-sce, fi-NI-sco-no. The other two forms are stressed as usual: fi-NIA-mo, fi-NI-te.

Some common -ire verbs are irregular

Some very common -ire verbs follow neither pattern: uscire (to go out), venire (to come) and dire (to say) are the ones to learn first, together with sapere (an -ere verb). See Present tense: other common irregular verbs (venire, uscire, dire, sapere).

Common mistakes

  • ❌ io finio → ✅ io finisco (finire inserts -isc-)
  • ❌ noi finiscamo → ✅ noi finiamo (no -isc- in noi and voi)
  • ❌ voi finiscite → ✅ voi finite
  • ❌ loro finiono → ✅ loro finiscono
  • ❌ io dormisco → ✅ io dormo (dormire has no -isc-)
  • ❌ voi dormete → ✅ voi dormite (-ete is for -ere verbs)

Quick check

Write the correct present-tense form.

  1. io (partire)
  2. tu (finire)
  3. lui (capire)
  4. noi (dormire)
  5. voi (preferire)
  6. loro (aprire)
  7. loro (finire)
Show answers
  1. parto   2. finisci   3. capisce   4. dormiamo   5. preferite   6. aprono   7. finiscono

Key takeaways

  • Regular -ire verbs follow two patterns: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono (partire) and -isco, -isci, -isce, -iamo, -ite, -iscono (finire).
  • Only voi differs from -ere verbs in the first pattern (-ite instead of -ete).
  • In the second pattern, -isc- appears in io, tu, lui / lei and loro, never in noi or voi.
  • Which pattern a verb follows is learned verb by verb; the infinitive does not show it.
  • uscire, venire and dire are irregular.