polir

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin polīre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [puˈli]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [poˈliɾ]

Verb

polir (first-person singular present poleixo, first-person singular preterite polí, past participle polit)

1. to shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding (often polish up)
2. to refine; remove imperfections

Conjugation

    Conjugation of polir (third conjugation, with -eix-)

infinitive			polir
gerund			polint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		polit		polida
		plural		polits		polides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	poleixo	poleixes	poleix	polim	poliu	poleixen
	imperfect	polia	polies	polia	políem	políeu	polien
	future	poliré	poliràs	polirà	polirem	polireu	poliran
	preterite	polí	polires	polí	polírem	políreu	poliren
	conditional	poliria	poliries	poliria	poliríem	poliríeu	polirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	poleixi	poleixis	poleixi	polim	poliu	poleixin
	imperfect	polís	polissis	polís	políssim	políssiu	polissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	poleix	poleixi	polim	poliu	poleixin
	negative (no)	—	no poleixis	no poleixi	no polim	no poliu	no poleixin

Derived terms

• màquina de polir
• poliment
• polit

Further reading

• “polir” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “polir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “polir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “polir” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin polīre (“to polish”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔ.liʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

polir

1. to shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding (often polish up)
2. to refine; remove imperfections

Conjugation

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Conjugation of polir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	polir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	polissant /pɔ.li.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		poli /pɔ.li/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	polis /pɔ.li/	polis /pɔ.li/	polit /pɔ.li/	polissons /pɔ.li.sɔ̃/	polissez /pɔ.li.se/	polissent /pɔ.lis/
	imperfect	polissais /pɔ.li.sɛ/	polissais /pɔ.li.sɛ/	polissait /pɔ.li.sɛ/	polissions /pɔ.li.sjɔ̃/	polissiez /pɔ.li.sje/	polissaient /pɔ.li.sɛ/
	past historic2	polis /pɔ.li/	polis /pɔ.li/	polit /pɔ.li/	polîmes /pɔ.lim/	polîtes /pɔ.lit/	polirent /pɔ.liʁ/
	future	polirai /pɔ.li.ʁe/	poliras /pɔ.li.ʁa/	polira /pɔ.li.ʁa/	polirons /pɔ.li.ʁɔ̃/	polirez /pɔ.li.ʁe/	poliront /pɔ.li.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	polirais /pɔ.li.ʁɛ/	polirais /pɔ.li.ʁɛ/	polirait /pɔ.li.ʁɛ/	polirions /pɔ.li.ʁjɔ̃/	poliriez /pɔ.li.ʁje/	poliraient /pɔ.li.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	polisse /pɔ.lis/	polisses /pɔ.lis/	polisse /pɔ.lis/	polissions /pɔ.li.sjɔ̃/	polissiez /pɔ.li.sje/	polissent /pɔ.lis/
	imperfect2	polisse /pɔ.lis/	polisses /pɔ.lis/	polît /pɔ.li/	polissions /pɔ.li.sjɔ̃/	polissiez /pɔ.li.sje/	polissent /pɔ.lis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	polis /pɔ.li/	—	polissons /pɔ.li.sɔ̃/	polissez /pɔ.li.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• poli
• polissage

Descendants

• → German: polieren

Further reading

• “polir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin polīre (“to polish”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /poˈli(ʁ)/ [poˈli(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /poˈli(ʁ)/ [poˈli(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /poˈli(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /poˈli(ʁ)/ [poˈli(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /poˈli(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈliɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈliɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈli.ɾi/

• (Caipira) IPA^(key): /po.ˈli(ɹ)/
• (Northeastern) IPA^(key): /pɔ.ˈli(h)/, /pu.ˈli(h)/
• Hyphenation: po‧lir

Verb

polir (first-person singular present pulo, third-person singular present pule, first-person singular preterite poli, past participle polido)

1. to polish; to shine; to make a surface very smooth or shiny by rubbing, cleaning, or grinding (often polish up)
2. to refine; remove imperfections

Conjugation

    Conjugation of polir (o becomes u when stressed) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	polir
Personal	polir	polires	polir	polirmos	polirdes	polirem
Gerund
	polindo
Past participle
Masculine	polido			polidos
Feminine	polida			polidas
Indicative
Present	pulo	pules	pule	polimos	polis	pulem
Imperfect	polia	polias	polia	políamos	políeis	poliam
Preterite	poli	poliste	poliu	polimos	polistes	poliram
Pluperfect	polira	poliras	polira	políramos	políreis	poliram
Future	polirei	polirás	polirá	poliremos	polireis	polirão
Conditional	poliria	polirias	poliria	poliríamos	poliríeis	poliriam
Subjunctive
Present	pula	pulas	pula	pulamos	pulais	pulam
Imperfect	polisse	polisses	polisse	políssemos	polísseis	polissem
Future	polir	polires	polir	polirmos	polirdes	polirem
Imperative
Affirmative		pule	pula	pulamos	poli	pulam
Negative (não)		não pulas	não pula	não pulamos	não pulais	não pulam

Further reading

• “polir”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Verb

polir (first-person singular present polo, first-person singular preterite polí, past participle polido)

1. Obsolete form of pulir.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of polir (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			polir
gerund			poliendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		polido		polida
		plural		polidos		polidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	polo	polestú polísvos	pole	polimos	polís	polen
	imperfect	polía	polías	polía	políamos	políais	polían
	preterite	polí	poliste	polió	polimos	polisteis	polieron
	future	poliré	polirás	polirá	poliremos	poliréis	polirán
	conditional	poliría	polirías	poliría	poliríamos	poliríais	polirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	pola	polastú polásvos2	pola	polamos	poláis	polan
	imperfect (ra)	poliera	polieras	poliera	poliéramos	polierais	polieran
	imperfect (se)	poliese	polieses	poliese	poliésemos	polieseis	poliesen
	future1	poliere	polieres	poliere	poliéremos	poliereis	polieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		poletú polívos	pola	polamos	polid	polan
	negative		no polas	no pola	no polamos	no poláis	no polan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

Further reading

• “polir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10