Verbs: Present 2
Cosa offri?
You're moving up in the world of Italian! You've now seen all three of the main types of verbs. Here's a little recap for verbs that end in ‑ire, like offrire, aprire, and seguire.
| subject | verb (offrire) |
| io I | offro offer |
| tu you | offri offer |
| lui / lei he / she | offre offers |
| noi we | offriamo offer |
| voi you all | offrite offer |
| loro they | offrono offer |
Lui offre del vino alla donna.
He offers wine to the woman.
Preferisco
Some Italian verbs that end in ‑ire behave in a special way. You need to add ‑isc‑ in the middle!
Some examples are preferire, unire, costruire, and colpire.
Some examples are preferire, unire, costruire, and colpire.
Lui preferisce la primavera o l'autunno?
Does he prefer spring or fall?
Cosa costruisci?
What do you build?
These are the forms of the verb preferire.
| subject | verb (preferire) |
| io I | preferisco prefer |
| tu you | preferisci prefer |
| lui / lei he / she | preferisce prefers |
| noi we | preferiamo prefer |
| voi you all | preferite prefer |
| loro they | preferiscono prefer |
Pro‑tip: the noi and voi forms don't have ‑isc‑!
Tu preferisci vino bianco o rosso?
Do you prefer white or red wine?
I miss you
In English we say I miss you, but in Italian you'd say tu mi manchi. This literally means you miss to me.
Noi gli manchiamo.
He misses us.
Io le manco.
She misses me.