Purificar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

purificar means to purify, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Purificar means to purify, and it covers purifying water before drinking it, purifying air and, figuratively, purifying a metal or a reputation. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. This page puts purificar to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for purificar, and the full tables are on the purificar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla. — I purify the water before drinking it.
  2. Él purifica el aire de la habitación. — He/she purifies the air in the room.
  3. Ayer, yo purifiqué la sangre con la dieta. — Yesterday, I purified the blood with the diet.
  4. Antes, nosotros purificábamos el metal en el horno. — Before, we used to purify the metal in the furnace.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú purificarás el agua antes de beberla. — Tomorrow, you will purify the water before drinking it.
  2. Yo purificaría el aire de la habitación. — I would purify the air in the room.
  3. Él ha purificado la sangre con la dieta. — He/she has purified the blood with the diet.
  4. Espero que él purifique el metal en el horno. — I hope he/she purifies the metal in the furnace.

With other people

  1. Nosotros purificamos el agua antes de beberla. — We purify the water before drinking it.
  2. Vosotros purificáis el aire de la habitación. — You all purify the air in the room.
  3. Antes, ellos purificaban la sangre con la dieta. — Before, they used to purify the blood with the diet.
  4. Mañana, él purificará el metal en el horno. — Tomorrow, he/she will purify the metal in the furnace.

Purificar in context

Two short dialogues that use purificar the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy purifico el agua antes de beberla." — "Today I purify the water before drinking it."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, purifiqué la sangre con la dieta." — "Yesterday I purified the blood with the diet."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú purificarás el aire de la habitación?" — "And tomorrow, will you will purify the air in the room?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros purificamos el metal en el horno." — "Tomorrow we purify the metal in the furnace."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo purificaría el aire de la habitación si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would purify the air in the room if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él purifique el agua antes de beberla." — "I hope he purifies the water before drinking it."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha purificado la sangre con la dieta." — "Surely. He has already has purified the blood with the diet."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo purifica el agua antes de beberla. — Right: Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla. — The person matters: purifica is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is purifico. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo purificé el aire de la habitación. — Right: Yo purifiqué el aire de la habitación. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is purifiqué, not purificé. purificar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating purificar and limpiar as identical in every context. — Right: Purificar means to purify, while limpiar means to clean, the general verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: purificar fits sentences such as Purifico el agua antes de beberla, while limpiar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy purificado el aire de la habitación. — Right: Yo he purificado el aire de la habitación. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he purificado, has purificado, ha purificado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo purifiqué la sangre con la dieta todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo purificaba la sangre con la dieta todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (purificaba), not the preterite. The preterite (purifiqué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on purificar: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el agua antes de beberla. (present tense) A. purifico B. purificas C. purifica D. purificamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el aire de la habitación. (preterite tense) A. purifiqué B. purificaste C. purificamos D. purificó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la sangre con la dieta. (future tense) A. purificará B. purificaremos C. purificarás D. purificaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el metal en el horno. (imperfect tense) A. purificabais B. purificábamos C. purificaba D. purificabas

  5. What does "Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla." mean in English? A. I purify the water before drinking it. B. I purify the air in the room. C. I purify the blood with the diet. D. I purify the metal in the furnace.

  6. What does "Él purificó el aire de la habitación." mean in English? A. He/she purified the water before drinking it. B. He/she purified the blood with the diet. C. He/she purified the metal in the furnace. D. He/she purified the air in the room.

  7. What does "Nosotros purificaremos la sangre con la dieta." mean in English? A. We will purify the air in the room. B. We will purify the metal in the furnace. C. We will purify the blood with the diet. D. We will purify the water before drinking it.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo purifican el aire de la habitación. B. Yo purifica el aire de la habitación. C. Yo purifico el aire de la habitación.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él purifiqué la sangre con la dieta. B. Él purificó la sangre con la dieta. C. Él purificaron la sangre con la dieta.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo purifique el metal en el horno. B. Yo purifice el metal en el horno. C. Yo purifique el metal en el horno.

Answer key

  1. purifico — The yo present form of purificar is purifico.
  2. purificó — The el preterite form of purificar is purificó.
  3. purificarás — The tu future form of purificar is purificarás.
  4. purificábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of purificar is purificábamos.
  5. I purify the water before drinking it. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form purifico, so the English is "I purify the water before drinking it." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she purified the air in the room. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form purificó, so the English is "He/she purified the air in the room." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will purify the blood with the diet. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form purificaremos, so the English is "We will purify the blood with the diet." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo purifico el aire de la habitación. — The correct sentence is "Yo purifico el aire de la habitación." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él purificó la sangre con la dieta. — The correct sentence is "Él purificó la sangre con la dieta." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo purifique el metal en el horno. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo purifique el metal en el horno." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does purificar mean, and when do I use it?

Purificar means to purify. Purificar means to purify, and it covers purifying water before drinking it, purifying air and, figuratively, purifying a metal or a reputation. It is a spelling-change verb: the c becomes qu before e. A good first sentence to remember is Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla. — "I purify the water before drinking it."

What is the difference between purificar and limpiar?

Purificar means to purify, while limpiar means to clean, the general verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use purificar when you mean to purify, as in Yo purifico el aire de la habitación., and use limpiar for to clean, the general verb.

How do I say "I purify" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo purifiqué el aire de la habitación.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo purificaba la sangre con la dieta.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he purificado el aire de la habitación..

How do I practise purificar?

Start with the purificar conjugation page for the full tables, then the purificar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: c becomes qu before e, so the preterite is purifiqué and the subjunctive is purifique.

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