Capire

Capire is an Italian verb meaning "to understand." It is used transitively with a direct object (capire qualcosa) and with clauses (capire che, capire come). In everyday Italian, the present tense form capisco is common as an affirmative response meaning "I understand." The verb covers both grasping information and interpreting a situation, and it can also appear in phrases like capirci qualcosa, meaning to get the idea.

Etymology and class: Capire derives from the Latin capere, meaning "to take." The sense of taking in information evolved into "to understand." In Italian, capire belongs to the -ire verbs and is part of the isc-verbs group, which insert -isc- in the present tense to indicate a stem change in most forms.

Conjugation: In the present indicative, capire forms with the -isc- stem in all persons except the first-person plural and second-person plural: io capisco, tu capisci, lui/lei capisce, noi capiamo, voi capite, loro capiscono. In the imperfetto, capivo, capivi, capiva, capivamo, capivate, capivano; in the futuro semplice: capirò, capirai, capirà, capiremo, capirete, capiranno. The present subjunctive is capisca, capisca, capisca, capiamo, capiate, capiscano.

Usage notes: Capire is versatile for everyday understanding and can pair with di, come, che, or other prepositional phrases (capire di qualcosa; capire come fare qualcosa). It is often contrasted with comprendere, which is more formal or broad in scope. Examples: “Capisco cosa intendi.” “Non capisco questa regola.” “Hai capito?”