Pulire means “to clean,” from wiping a table to scrubbing a whole flat. Because you use it every day, it is one of the easiest verbs for getting used to the -ISC pattern: pulisco, pulisci, pulisce.
Infinitive
pulire
English
to clean
Auxiliary
avere
Past participle
pulito
Gerund
pulendo
-ISC verb: adds -isc- between the stem and the ending in the singular and the third person plural of the present (pulisco, pulisci, pulisce, puliscono). The same insert appears in the present subjunctive (pulisca, puliscano) and in the imperative (pulisci, pulisca, puliscano). Noi and voi never take it: puliamo, pulite, puliate. Note the sound change inside -isc-: before o and a it is a hard sk (pulisco, puliscono, pulisca), before i and e it is soft sh (pulisci, pulisce). Every other tense is regular -IRE: pulivo, pulii, pulirò, pulirei, with the participle pulito and the gerund pulendo. Pulire has no irregular forms.
Pulire always takes a direct object, the thing you clean: pulire la cucina, pulire i vetri, pulire il forno. In the kitchen it also means to prepare food by removing the parts you do not eat, so pulire il pesce is to gut and scale a fish and pulire le verdure is to trim and peel vegetables. For general housework Italians usually say fare le pulizie rather than pulire la casa. To clean a part of your own body, use the reflexive pulirsi: pulirsi le mani, pulirsi la bocca col tovagliolo. The past participle pulito is also the everyday adjective for “clean”: un bicchiere pulito, acqua pulita.
Pulire takes avere: ho pulito, abbiamo pulito la casa. Essere appears only with the reflexive pulirsi, which uses it like every reflexive verb: mi sono pulito le scarpe, si è pulita le mani. With avere the participle stays pulito, unless a direct object pronoun comes before the verb: la cucina l'ho pulita ieri, i pavimenti li abbiamo puliti stamattina.
Pulire in context
Presente:Il sabato mattina io pulisco il bagno e mio marito pulisce la cucina. (On Saturday mornings I clean the bathroom and my husband cleans the kitchen.)
Passato Prossimo:Hai pulito il pesce o lo faccio io? (Have you cleaned the fish, or shall I do it?)
Imperfetto:Da ragazzo pulivo le scarpe di mio padre ogni domenica. (As a boy I used to clean my father's shoes every Sunday.)
Futuro Semplice:Domani puliremo la cantina, finalmente. (Tomorrow we will finally clean out the cellar.)
Congiuntivo Presente:Vuoi che pulisca anche i vetri? (Do you want me to clean the windows too?)
Condizionale Presente:Al posto tuo pulirei il filtro della lavatrice una volta al mese. (If I were you, I would clean the washing machine filter once a month.)
Imperativo:Pulisci il tavolo prima di apparecchiare. (Wipe the table before you set it.)
Common expressions with pulire
fare le pulizie: to do the cleaning, to do the housework. The usual phrase for general cleaning: il sabato faccio le pulizie. Use pulire when you name the thing you clean.
pulirsi la bocca: to wipe your mouth
pulire il pesce: to gut and scale a fish
avere la coscienza pulita: to have a clear conscience
fare piazza pulita: to make a clean sweep, to get rid of everything. Literally “to make a clean square.” It can mean clearing out objects, people, or an opponent's whole team.
Common mistakes
Pulisco la mia camera ogni settimana., not Pulo la mia camera ogni settimana. (I clean my room every week.). Pulire is an -ISC verb, so the io form needs -isc- before the ending. There is no form pulo in standard Italian.
Noi puliamo la casa insieme., not Noi pulischiamo la casa insieme. (We clean the house together.). The -isc- insert never appears in the noi and voi forms of the present. Those two forms are regular: puliamo, pulite.
La cucina? L'ho pulita ieri., not La cucina? L'ho pulito ieri. (The kitchen? I cleaned it yesterday.). With avere the participle normally stays pulito, but it must agree with a direct object pronoun that comes before it. La cucina is feminine, so l'ho pulita.
No. Pulire is a regular -ISC verb. The only thing to learn is the -isc- insert in pulisco, pulisci, pulisce and puliscono, and in the matching subjunctive and imperative forms. The past participle pulito and the gerund pulendo follow the normal -IRE rules.
Does pulire take essere or avere?
Avere: ho pulito, hanno pulito. You only need essere with the reflexive pulirsi, for example mi sono pulito le mani (I wiped my hands), with the participle agreeing with the subject: si è pulita le mani.
What is the past participle of pulire?
Pulito. It is regular, and it is also the common adjective for “clean”: una camicia pulita, piatti puliti. The opposite is sporco (dirty).
How do you pronounce pulisco and pulisci?
The letters sc change sound with the next vowel. In pulisco, puliscono and pulisca they sound like the sk in “skip.” In pulisci and pulisce they sound like the sh in “ship.” The stress falls on the i before sc: pu-LI-sco, pu-LI-sci, and also pu-LI-sco-no.
What is the difference between pulire and lavare?
Lavare means to wash, usually with water and soap: lavare i piatti, lavare la macchina. Pulire is the general word for making something clean by any method, including dusting, wiping or vacuuming. For washing yourself, the reflexive is lavarsi: mi lavo le mani.