pulire — Italian conjugation
to clean
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
The presente covers habits, ongoing situations, and plans about to start — much like English “I study” and “I am studying”. One present tense does both in Italian.
Lavora da casa tre giorni a settimana.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | pulisco | I clean |
| tu | pulisci | you clean |
| lui/lei | pulisce | he/she/it cleans |
| noi | puliamo | we clean |
| voi | pulite | you (pl.) clean |
| loro | puliscono | they clean |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Regular
The passato remoto tells a completed, narrative past, especially in the south and in literature. The passato prossimo is the normal spoken past in the north, so you choose register and region, not a difference in time alone.
Quella sera arrivò tardi, senza alibi.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | pulii | I cleaned |
| tu | pulisti | you cleaned |
| lui/lei | pulì | he/she/it cleaned |
| noi | pulimmo | we cleaned |
| voi | puliste | you (pl.) cleaned |
| loro | pulirono | they cleaned |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Regular
The imperfetto is for incomplete past actions, context, and repeated or habitual situations without a clear end. The passato prossimo, not the remoto, is its usual “event” partner in speech.
Da bambina passavo le estati al mare.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | pulivo |
| tu | pulivi |
| lui/lei | puliva |
| noi | pulivamo |
| voi | pulivate |
| loro | pulivano |
Conditional (Condizionale) Regular
The condizionale is for polite “would you…”, first-condition hypotheticals, and reported future from a past point of view. The classic if-chain is se + imperfetto → condizionale.
Potresti alzare un poco la voce?
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | pulirei | I would clean |
| tu | puliresti | you would clean |
| lui/lei | pulirebbe | he/she/it would clean |
| noi | puliremmo | we would clean |
| voi | pulireste | you (pl.) would clean |
| loro | pulirebbero | they would clean |
Future (Futuro semplice) Regular
The futuro semplice is for predictions and far decisions. In speech you often hear the present (with a time adverb) or a paraphrase, and a famous trick is the futuro di probabilità for a present guess: saranno le tre.
Domani partiremo all'alba.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | pulirò | I will clean |
| tu | pulirai | you will clean |
| lui/lei | pulirà | he/she/it will clean |
| noi | puliremo | we will clean |
| voi | pulirete | you (pl.) will clean |
| loro | puliranno | they will clean |
Present perfect (Passato prossimo) Regular
The passato prossimo is the workhorse preterit-like past in the north and in everyday Italian: avere/essere + participle, essere for reflexives, motion, and other change-of-state patterns.
Siamo andati a piedi, poi abbiamo preso l'autobus.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ho pulito | I have cleaned |
| tu | hai pulito | you have cleaned |
| lui/lei | ha pulito | he/she/it has cleaned |
| noi | abbiamo pulito | we have cleaned |
| voi | avete pulito | you (pl.) have cleaned |
| loro | hanno pulito | they have cleaned |
Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo) Regular
The trapassato prossimo is “further in the past than another past” — the Italian pluperfect. It pairs with a main past clause to mark sequence.
Avevamo già mangiato quando suonò il telefono.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avevo pulito | I had cleaned |
| tu | avevi pulito | you had cleaned |
| lui/lei | aveva pulito | he/she/it had cleaned |
| noi | avevamo pulito | we had cleaned |
| voi | avevate pulito | you (pl.) had cleaned |
| loro | avevano pulito | they had cleaned |
Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato) Regular
The condizionale passato is for unreal or missed past results and often appears with se + trapassato prossimo in the protasis.
Avrei accettato, se mi avessero avvisato in tempo.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | avrei pulito |
| tu | avresti pulito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe pulito |
| noi | avremmo pulito |
| voi | avreste pulito |
| loro | avrebbero pulito |
Future perfect (Futuro anteriore) Regular
The futuro anteriore says something will already be over before a still-later future, or, like the French, can express a logical guess about a past result.
Entro le cinque, avrà già lasciato l'ufficio.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | avrò pulito | I will have cleaned |
| tu | avrai pulito | you will have cleaned |
| lui/lei | avrà pulito | he/she/it will have cleaned |
| noi | avremo pulito | we will have cleaned |
| voi | avrete pulito | you (pl.) will have cleaned |
| loro | avranno pulito | they will have cleaned |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
The congiuntivo presente is required after many verbs and fixed phrases of will, fear, purpose, and doubt. Impersonal and semi-impersonal triggers (è importante che) also force the subjunctive mood.
Penso che sia la scelta giusta.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | pulisca |
| tu | pulisca |
| lui/lei | pulisca |
| noi | puliamo |
| voi | puliate |
| loro | puliscano |
Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto) Regular
The congiuntivo imperfetto is the past of the congiuntivo system after a past matrix clause and in se + congi. imperf. → condizionale with unreal conditions.
Se avessi più tempo, viaggerei ogni mese.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | pulissi |
| tu | pulissi |
| lui/lei | pulisse |
| noi | pulissimo |
| voi | puliste |
| loro | pulissero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Regular
The affirmative imperativo reuses the tu form as 3sg for -are verbs, while other conjugations use the normal tu present. It is the direct command register.
Raccontami com'è andata l'esame.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | pulisci |
| lui/lei | pulisca |
| noi | puliamo |
| voi | pulite |
| loro | puliscano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
Negative commands use non + full infinitive in modern Italian, which is a distinctive rule compared to other Romance languages. Polite or indirect “please don’t” can still soften the tone in context.
Non aprire quella finestra, per favore.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non pulire |
| lui/lei | non pulisca |
| noi | non puliamo |
| voi | non pulite |
| loro | non puliscano |