Purificar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of purificar — "to purify" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for purificar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él purifica el agua antes de beberla. — "He/she purifies the water before drinking it." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: purificar

Every person of purificar in the present tense. The gerund is purificando and the past participle is purificado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo purifico
tú purificas
él/ella/Ud. purifica
nosotros/as purificamos
vosotros/as purificáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. purifican

How the present indicative of purificar is formed

The present indicative of purificar is built from the stem purific- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o purifico
tú -as purificas
él/ella/Ud. -a purifica
nosotros/as -amos purificamos
vosotros/as -áis purificáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an purifican

purificar is a spelling-change verb: c becomes qu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form purifico in particular.

The gerund of purificar is purificando and the past participle is purificado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of purificar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and purificar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For purificar, this use looks like this: "Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla." — "I purify the water before drinking it." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For purificar, this use looks like this: "Él purifica el aire de la habitación." — "He/she purifies the air in the room." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For purificar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros purificamos la sangre con la dieta." — "We purify the blood with the diet." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For purificar, this use looks like this: "Ellos purifican el metal en el horno." — "They purify the metal in the furnace." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For purificar, this use looks like this: "Tú purificas el agua antes de beberla." — "You purify the water before drinking it." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with purificar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla." — "I purify the water before drinking it."
  • Preterite: "Yo purifiqué el agua antes de beberla." — "I purified the water before drinking it." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él purifica el aire de la habitación." — "He/she purifies the air in the room."
  • Preterite: "Él purificó el aire de la habitación." — "He/she purified the air in the room." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros purificamos la sangre con la dieta." — "We purify the blood with the diet."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros purificamos la sangre con la dieta." — "We purified the blood with the diet." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with purificar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla. — I purify the water before drinking it.
  2. Tú purificas el aire de la habitación. — You purify the air in the room.
  3. Él purifica la sangre con la dieta. — He/she purifies the blood with the diet.
  4. Nosotros purificamos el metal en el horno. — We purify the metal in the furnace.
  5. Vosotros purificáis el agua antes de beberla. — You all purify the water before drinking it.
  6. Ellos purifican el aire de la habitación. — They purify the air in the room.
  7. Yo purifico la sangre con la dieta. — I purify the blood with the diet.
  8. Él purifica el metal en el horno. — He/she purifies the metal in the furnace.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros purificais el aire de la habitación. — Right: Vosotros purificáis el aire de la habitación. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: purificáis, not purificais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo purifico la sangre con la dieta. — Right: Ayer, yo purifiqué la sangre con la dieta. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (purifiqué), not the present (purifico). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of purificar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ el aire de la habitación. (present tense) A. purificas B. purifico C. purifica D. purificamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la sangre con la dieta. (present tense) A. purifica B. purifico C. purificas D. purificamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el metal en el horno. (present tense) A. purificamos B. purifico C. purificas D. purifica

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ el agua antes de beberla. (present tense) A. purificáis B. purifico C. purificas D. purifica

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el aire de la habitación. (present tense) A. purifican B. purifico C. purificas D. purifica

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la sangre con la dieta. (present tense) A. purifico B. purificas C. purifica D. purificamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el metal en el horno. (present tense) A. purifica B. purifico C. purificas D. purificamos

Answer key

  1. purifico — The yo present form of purificar is purifico. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. purificas — The tu present form of purificar is purificas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. purifica — The el present form of purificar is purifica. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. purificamos — The nosotros present form of purificar is purificamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. purificáis — The vosotros present form of purificar is purificáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. purifican — The ellos present form of purificar is purifican. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. purifico — The yo present form of purificar is purifico. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. purifica — The el present form of purificar is purifica. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of purificar?

Use the present tense of purificar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo purifico el agua antes de beberla. — "I purify the water before drinking it." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of purificar formed?

Take the stem purific- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: c becomes qu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of purificar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo purifico el aire de la habitación. with Yo purifiqué el aire de la habitación. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of purificar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the purificar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Purificar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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