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bollire

to boil

verb bol-LEE-reh Rare

Origin: From Latin 'bullire', from 'bulla' (bubble).

Usage Note

Bollire is intransitive when describing the liquid itself (l'acqua bolle) and transitive when you boil something (bollire le patate). It belongs to the -ire conjugation (third group, regular). The auxiliary in compound tenses is essere when intransitive, avere when transitive.

Examples

"L'acqua bolle dopo cinque minuti."

Natural Translation

The water boils after five minutes.

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