far bollire
The English phrase 'boil' is translated into Italian as far bollire.
The phrase far bollire is used transitively to mean heating a liquid until it reaches a boil. In a kitchen context, you might use the expression Bollire a fuoco lento to mean 'boil on low heat' or refer to the stove burners as I fuochi. Related to this root is the adjective bollente, which describes something that is at the boiling point or extremely hot. Note that the word 'boil' in English can also refer to a medical condition. In Italian, an accumulation of pus is called a foruncolo or a pustola.
Meaning: (transitive) heat (a liquid) until it begins to turn into a gas (verb)
Which one should you use?
Use far bollire when you are the agent causing the liquid to boil (for example, 'I make the water boil'). However, use the intransitive verb bollire when the subject is the liquid itself (for example, 'the water boils').
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
While far bollire is the transitive form used to mean 'to make something boil', the verb bollire is used intransitively to describe the action of the liquid itself. For example, the conjugation for 'I boil' is Io bollo and the conjugation for 'He/She boils' is Egli/Ella bolle.
Did you know?
- The phrase bollire in pentola literally means 'to boil in the pot', but it is used as an idiom to describe a secret plan or plot that is currently brewing.
- To describe someone who is boiling with rage, Italians use the verb ribollire, which literally means 'to boil again'.
- The Italian word for 'bubble' is bolla, which is the same word used for the air bubble found in a carpenter's level tool.
Examples in context
- Bollire le patate.Boil the potatoes.
- Fai sobbollire la zuppa.Simmer the soup.
- Devo far bollire l'acqua per la pasta.I need to boil the water for the pasta.
- Puoi far bollire il latte per un minuto?Can you boil the milk for a minute?
- Non far bollire troppo il brodo.Don't boil the broth too much.
Example conversation
Sofia and Francesco are in the kitchen preparing dinner.
- SofiaFrancesco, puoi far bollire l'acqua?Francesco, can you boil the water?
- FrancescoCerto, la metto subito sul fuoco.Sure, I'll put it on the heat right away.
- SofiaGrazie, serve per il risotto.Thanks, it's for the risotto.
- FrancescoNessun problema, lo faccio subito.No problem, I'll do it right now.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “boil” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
