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Marco pulisce sempre la macchina.

Marco pulisce sempre la macchina.
Marco always cleans the car.
From Lesson 36:Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)·Italian

Breakdown of Marco pulisce sempre la macchina.

la macchina
the car
Marco
Marco
sempre
always
pulire
to clean

Questions & Answers about Marco pulisce sempre la macchina.

Why is the verb pulisce instead of just pule?
The dictionary form of this verb is pulire (to clean). It belongs to a special group of -ire verbs that insert -isc- before the ending in most present tense forms. For Marco (the he/she form), the ending is -e, so we combine pul- + -isc- + -e to get pulisce.
Do all -ire verbs use this -isc- pattern?
No, only some of them do! Common ones include pulire (to clean), capire (to understand), and finire (to finish). Other common verbs like dormire (to sleep) or partire (to leave) use standard endings without adding -isc-. You just have to memorize which verbs belong to the -isc- group as you learn them.
How do you pronounce the sce part of pulisce?
It makes a sh sound, followed by an eh sound (like sheh). In Italian, any time the letters sc are followed by an e or an i, they combine to make a soft sh sound.
Why does sempre come after the verb instead of before it?
In English, we say Marco always cleans, putting the adverb before the verb. But in Italian, adverbs of time and frequency like sempre (always) usually go right after the verb they describe. Literally, this sentence says Marco cleans always the car.

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