Common Italian verb
| Pronunciation | |
| Meaning | To clean, to wash |
| Conjugation | Irregular (-ISC- group: io pulisco) |
| Transitive or intransitive? | Transitive |
Different meanings
1) To remove dirt from sth
| Hai pulito lo specchio del bagno? | Did you clean the bathroom mirror? |
| Mio figlio non pulisce mai camera sua. | My son never cleans his room. |
Use the preposition da if you want to say “to clean sth of sth else”.
| Michele pulisce il ripiano dalle briciole. | Michele cleans the shelf of crumbs. |
| Sto pulendo gli scarponi dal fango. | I am cleaning the boots of mud. |
2) To do chores around the house
| Ho passato tutta la mattina a pulire! | I spent the whole morning cleaning up! |
3) To polish/perfect sth
| Devi pulire il testo, hai inserito troppi avverbi. | You need to clean up the text; you added too many adverbs. |
Pulirsi
Use pulirsi to translate “to clean oneself up”. Examples:
| Pulisciti, sei tutto sporco. | Clean yourself up, you’re all dirty. |
| Pulisciti la bocca dalla marmellata! | Wipe the jam off your mouth! |
Collocations and expressions
| Pulire casa | To tidy one’s home |
| Pulire una ferita | To clean a wound |
| Pulire il pesce | To gut/clean a fish |
| Pulirsi le unghie | To clean one’s fingernails |
More free Italian resources
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