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Se rifletti molto, capisci ciò che è reale.

Se rifletti molto, capisci ciò che è reale.
If you reflect a lot, you understand what is real.
From Lesson 158:Compound relative pronouns (quello che, ciò che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Se rifletti molto, capisci ciò che è reale.

Why do we use ciò che for 'what' here instead of just cosa?
In Italian, cosa (or che cosa) is mostly used for asking questions, like 'What is that?'. When 'what' means 'the thing that' or 'that which' in a statement, you need a compound relative pronoun like ciò che or quello che. Here, you are understanding 'the thing that' is real.
Since the lesson is about quello che and ciò che, could I use quello che in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely! Se rifletti molto, capisci quello che è reale means exactly the same thing. ciò che is just slightly more formal and elegant, but they are completely interchangeable in this context.
I remember capire means 'to understand', so why does it become capisci for the 'you' form?
capire is a common -isc- verb. For these verbs, you have to insert -isc- between the root of the verb and the ending for the io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms in the present tense. So, it becomes tu cap-isc-i.
Why is capisci in the present tense? Wouldn't it make more sense to say 'you will understand' in the future tense?
You could use the future tense (capirai), but Italian frequently uses the present tense for both parts of an 'if' sentence (se + present, present) when stating a general fact, a routine, or an immediate, guaranteed consequence.

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