καθαρίζω (to clean) | Greek Grammar

καθαρίζω is one of the least eventful verbs in Greek: every slot is filled and every slot is predictable. The card earns its place on range. The sense a learner meets first is not mopping a floor — it is standing at a kitchen counter being handed three potatoes.

Principal parts

Slot	Forms	Note
Present	καθαρίζω, καθαρίζεις, καθαρίζει, καθαρίζουμε, καθαρίζετε, καθαρίζουν(ε)
Imperfect	καθάριζα, καθάριζες, καθάριζε, καθαρίζαμε, καθαρίζατε, καθάριζαν	no ε- augment: the stem is already long enough to carry the stress
Aorist	καθάρισα, καθάρισες, καθάρισε, καθαρίσαμε, καθαρίσατε, καθάρισαν	the -σ- route; ×καθάριξα does not exist
Dependent	καθαρίσω — θα καθαρίσω, να καθαρίσω
Imperative	καθάρισε / καθαρίστε	imperfective καθάριζε for a standing rule
Perfect	έχω / είχα καθαρίσει	passive έχω καθαριστεί
Gerund	καθαρίζοντας
Mediopassive	καθαρίζομαι, aorist καθαρίστηκα	a real passive — Οι δρόμοι καθαρίζονται τη νύχτα
-μένος participle	καθαρισμένος, -η, -ο	ready-prepped: shelled, peeled, gutted

Greek -ίζω verbs split between an aorist in -σα and one in -ξα, and nothing in the present tells you which (consonant merges sorts the class out). καθαρίζω is built straight off the adjective καθαρός, and verbs of that shape lean to -σα — so καθάρισα, like αγόρασα. Keep it apart from the learned καθαιρώ (formal) "depose, strip of office", which shares four letters and nothing else.

Θα μου καθαρίσεις δυο πατάτες όσο ζεσταίνω το λάδι;

tha mu katharísis dhio patátes óso zesténo to ládhi;

Could you peel me a couple of potatoes while I heat the oil?

Καθάρισε πρώτα τα ψάρια, μετά τα βάζουμε στον φούρνο.

kathárise próta ta psária, metá ta vázume ston fúrno

Gut the fish first, then we put them in the oven.

Τα μύδια τα πήρα ήδη καθαρισμένα από τον ψαρά.

ta mídhia ta píra ídhi katharizména apó ton psará

I got the mussels ready-cleaned from the fishmonger.

One verb where English has four

English needs clean, peel, shell, gut — Greek uses καθαρίζω for the lot, and the object tells you which one is meant. Reaching for ξεφλουδίζω "take the skin off" for potatoes is not wrong, but it is the technical word; in a kitchen you will hear καθαρίζω.

The mediopassive is worth one line of caution. καθαρίζομαι is a genuine passive and it is used of things — offices, streets, machines — not of yourself. English "I cleaned myself up" is πλύθηκα και άλλαξα, and "I cleaned the house" stays in the active: καθάρισα το σπίτι, with the house as the object. The verb simply never turns reflexive.

Τα τζάμια τα καθαρίζω πάντα με ξίδι, όχι με σπρέι.

ta dzámia ta katharízo pánda me ksídhi, óchi me spréi

I always do the windows with vinegar, not spray.

Το σπίτι το καθαρίζει μια κυρία κάθε Παρασκευή.

to spíti to katharízi mia kiría káthe Paraskeví

A cleaner does the house every Friday.

When it takes no object

Drop the object and two quite separate things happen. Put the thing being cleaned in the subject slot — a stain, a shirt, the air, the sky — and καθαρίζω is labile: it turns intransitive with no change of voice, exactly like αλλάζω. Put a person there and it means I'm done, it's sorted, with nothing about washing left in it.

Μόλις καθαρίσει ο καιρός, θα βγούμε με το σκάφος.

mólis katharísi o kerós, tha vghúme me to skáfos

As soon as the weather clears we'll take the boat out.

— Τελείωσες με τα χαρτιά; — Καθάρισα.

— telíoses me ta chartiá; — kathárisa

— Are you done with the paperwork? — All sorted.

💡

Καθάρισα said of yourself never means "I got clean." Greek has πλύθηκα for that. The bare aorist is a report that a job, a debt or an obligation is behind you — and in the money sense it is what you cleared: Από τα ιδιαίτερα καθαρίζει καμιά τριακοσαριά τον μήνα(informal).

Government

Frame	Example	Reading
accusative object	Καθάρισα το μπάνιο.	clean a place or thing
accusative: food	Καθαρίζω τα κρεμμύδια.	peel, shell, gut
με accusative	με ξίδι, με χλωρίνη	the stuff you use
no object, the thing itself	Καθάρισε ο ουρανός. Δεν καθάρισε ο λεκές.	it came clean — labile
no object, person	Καθάρισα.	I'm finished with it
accusative: person (slang)	Τον καθάρισαν.	they bumped him off
mediopassive	Οι δρόμοι καθαρίζονται.	the plain passive

Στην ταινία τον καθαρίζουν στο πρώτο δεκάλεπτο.

stin tenía ton katharízun sto próto dhekálepto

In the film they bump him off in the first ten minutes. (slang)

Set phrases

Phrase	Meaning
Καθάρισα. (informal)	that's sorted, I'm out of it
καθαρίζω πατάτες / πορτοκάλι	peel
καθαρίζω γαρίδες / ψάρι	shell, gut
Τον καθάρισε. (slang)	killed him
Καθάρισε ο ουρανός.	the sky cleared
καθαρίζω / ξεκαθαρίζω τη θέση μου	make my position clear — both prefixes are standard in this one
Καθαροί λογαριασμοί, καλοί φίλοι. (proverb)	clear accounts make good friends

Θέλω να ξεκαθαρίσω κάτι πριν προχωρήσουμε.

thélo na ksekatharíso káti prin prochorísume

I want to clear something up before we go on.

The participle deserves its own note: καθαρισμένος is a state you can buy — squid, mussels and prawns are sold καθαρισμένα. That standing-result reading is the whole point of the -μένος participle.

Key Takeaways

καθαρίζω · καθάριζα · καθάρισα · καθαρίσω · καθάρισε · έχω καθαρίσει. Fully regular; the aorist takes -σ-, and ×καθάριξα does not exist.
One verb covers clean, peel, shell and gut — the object decides. ξεφλουδίζω is the technical word, not the everyday one.
The intransitive is labile: Καθάρισε ο ουρανός, Δεν καθάρισε ο λεκές — the thing that gets clean is the subject, and no passive is needed.
Bare Καθάρισα means I'm done / it's settled, never I got clean; in money talk it means what you cleared.
Τον καθάρισε (slang) is "killed him" — recognise it, and know the register you are in.
καθαρισμένος labels a state you meet on a fishmonger's slab; most of the built-out figurative work goes to ξεκαθαρίζω — ξεκαθαρίζω λογαριασμούς, ξεκαθαρίζω την υπόθεση.

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