Italian has a small but high-frequency family of verbs ending in -gliere. They all share an identical irregular conjugation: -lg- in the 1sg and 3pl present forms, -gli- elsewhere; an -lto past participle; and an -si passato remoto. Once you learn the pattern for one of them — togliere is the canonical model — you have learned them all.
The family includes:
- togliere — to remove, to take off, to take away
- cogliere — to pick, to gather, to grasp (especially metaphorically)
- scegliere — to choose, to select
- sciogliere — to dissolve, to untie, to melt
- accogliere — to welcome, to receive
- raccogliere — to gather, to collect, to pick up
- distogliere — to divert, to distract
- togliersi — to take off (clothing, oneself)
All of these descend from the same Latin verb colligere ("to gather, to collect") via different prefixes — and the family inherits the same set of irregularities together. Learning them as a group is far easier than learning them one at a time.
The pattern
The whole family conjugates exactly like togliere, the simplest member. Memorize this paradigm and apply it to any other -gliere verb by swapping the stem.
| Person | togliere | Stem shape | Pronunciation note |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | tolgo | tolg- | /ˈtɔl.go/ — hard /g/ after /l/ |
| tu | togli | togl- | /ˈtɔ.ʎi/ — palatal /ʎ/ |
| lui / lei / Lei | toglie | togl- | /ˈtɔ.ʎe/ — palatal /ʎ/ |
| noi | togliamo | togl- | /toʎ.ˈʎa.mo/ — long palatal |
| voi | togliete | togl- | /toʎ.ˈʎe.te/ — long palatal |
| loro | tolgono | tolg- | /ˈtɔl.go.no/ — hard /g/ after /l/ |
Tolgo le scarpe quando entro in casa.
I take off my shoes when I come into the house.
Togli le mani dalla torta!
Get your hands off the cake!
Mio nonno toglie sempre la pelle del pollo.
My grandfather always takes the skin off the chicken.
Togliamo le decorazioni dopo l'Epifania.
We take the decorations down after Epiphany.
Togliete pure l'audio, non disturba.
Go ahead and mute it, it's not bothering anyone.
Tolgono i posti riservati durante i concerti.
They remove the reserved seats during concerts.
Why the alternation exists
The double form -lg- vs -gli- is not random — it's a phonological consequence of the conjugation endings. The Italian digraph -gl- represents the palatal lateral sound /ʎ/ only when followed by i (and a small set of borrowings). When the verb's ending is -i- or -e- (forms like togli, toglie, togliamo, togliete), the -gl- spelling can do its palatal job before the i.
But when the ending is -o- (1sg tolgo, 3pl tolgono), there's no following -i- to license the palatal pronunciation. The historical solution: insert a -g- between the -l- of the stem and the -o- of the ending, giving -lg-, pronounced as a literal /lg/ cluster. Different sound, different spelling — but the same underlying root.
The whole family side-by-side
Every member of the family conjugates identically. Here's the present indicative for all of them, lined up so you can see the pattern.
| Person | togliere (remove) | cogliere (pick) | scegliere (choose) | sciogliere (dissolve) | accogliere (welcome) | raccogliere (gather) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| io | tolgo | colgo | scelgo | sciolgo | accolgo | raccolgo |
| tu | togli | cogli | scegli | sciogli | accogli | raccogli |
| lui / lei | toglie | coglie | sceglie | scioglie | accoglie | raccoglie |
| noi | togliamo | cogliamo | scegliamo | sciogliamo | accogliamo | raccogliamo |
| voi | togliete | cogliete | scegliete | sciogliete | accogliete | raccogliete |
| loro | tolgono | colgono | scelgono | sciolgono | accolgono | raccolgono |
The shape is the same in every column: -lg- in 1sg and 3pl, -gli- elsewhere. Six different verbs, one rule.
Cogliamo l'occasione per augurarti buon compleanno.
We take this opportunity to wish you a happy birthday.
Sciolgo il cioccolato a bagnomaria.
I melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
L'università accoglie studenti da tutto il mondo.
The university welcomes students from all over the world.
I bambini raccolgono le foglie nel parco.
The kids are gathering leaves in the park.
Distolgo lo sguardo dallo schermo ogni mezz'ora.
I look away from the screen every half hour.
The past participle: -lto
Every verb in the family has an irregular past participle ending in -lto. There is no productive pattern here — you have to memorize the participle for each verb — but the family resemblance is so strong that the participles act as a mnemonic group.
| Verb | Past participle |
|---|---|
| togliere | tolto |
| cogliere | colto |
| scegliere | scelto |
| sciogliere | sciolto |
| accogliere | accolto |
| raccogliere | raccolto |
| distogliere | distolto |
All take avere as the auxiliary in compound tenses (they're transitive verbs — you remove something, choose something, gather something), so the participle does not agree with the subject. As always, it can agree with a preceding direct-object pronoun.
Ho tolto le tende per pulirle.
I took down the curtains to clean them.
Hanno scelto Marco come capitano.
They chose Marco as captain.
Abbiamo raccolto duecento euro per la beneficenza.
We collected two hundred euros for charity.
Le ho colte fresche stamattina.
I picked them fresh this morning. (le → feminine plural agreement: colte)
The noun raccolta ("collection, harvest") and raccolto ("crop, harvest") are derived from the same participle — connecting the verb to its agricultural roots.
The passato remoto: alternating pattern
All -gliere verbs follow the same passato remoto pattern: a strong (irregular) form in 1sg, 3sg, and 3pl ending in -si, -se, -sero, and regular -ere forms in 2sg, 1pl, 2pl. The strong forms have stress on the root; the regular forms have stress on the ending.
| Person | togliere | cogliere | scegliere | sciogliere |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| io | tolsi | colsi | scelsi | sciolsi |
| tu | togliesti | cogliesti | scegliesti | sciogliesti |
| lui / lei | tolse | colse | scelse | sciolse |
| noi | togliemmo | cogliemmo | scegliemmo | sciogliemmo |
| voi | toglieste | coglieste | sceglieste | scioglieste |
| loro | tolsero | colsero | scelsero | sciolsero |
This 1-3-1 / 2-1-2 alternation (irregular at 1sg, 3sg, 3pl; regular at 2sg, 1pl, 2pl) is the dominant pattern for strong -ere verbs in Italian. The same pattern shows up in prendere (presi/prendesti/prese/prendemmo/prendeste/presero), mettere, vedere, chiedere, rispondere — dozens of verbs.
Si tolse il cappello e la salutò.
He took off his hat and greeted her. (passato remoto, literary register)
Scelsero la strada più lunga ma più sicura.
They chose the longer but safer route.
In modern everyday speech, most Italians use the passato prossimo (si è tolto, hanno scelto) instead. The passato remoto remains standard in southern Italy and in literary writing.
What each verb actually means
The conjugation is uniform, but the meanings spread across a range of everyday and figurative uses. Knowing the core meaning of each lets you use the verb naturally.
Togliere — remove, take off, take away
The most general "remove" verb in Italian. Used for clothing, objects from places, things from people.
Togliti le scarpe, sono bagnate.
Take off your shoes, they're wet.
Mi togli un peso, grazie!
You're taking a weight off my shoulders, thanks!
Cogliere — pick (literal), grasp (figurative)
Literal: pick fruit, flowers from a plant. Figurative: grasp an idea, seize an opportunity, catch someone in the act.
Coglie le rose dal giardino di sua madre.
She picks roses from her mother's garden.
Non ho colto il senso della tua battuta.
I didn't get the meaning of your joke.
L'hanno colto in flagrante.
They caught him red-handed.
Scegliere — choose, pick out
The standard verb for selecting from options. See the dedicated page on scegliere for the full treatment.
Scelgo sempre il piatto del giorno.
I always go for the daily special.
Sciogliere — dissolve, untie, melt
Three related meanings: dissolve (sugar in coffee), untie (a knot), or melt (chocolate, snow). Reflexive sciogliersi = "to melt" or "to break up" (a group dissolving).
Sciogli il sale nell'acqua calda.
Dissolve the salt in hot water.
La neve si scioglie al sole.
The snow melts in the sun.
Il gruppo si è sciolto l'anno scorso.
The band broke up last year.
Accogliere — welcome, receive
Used for welcoming guests, accepting requests, receiving someone into a community. Slightly more formal than ricevere.
L'albergo accoglie i clienti con un bicchiere di prosecco.
The hotel welcomes guests with a glass of prosecco.
La proposta è stata accolta con entusiasmo.
The proposal was received with enthusiasm.
Raccogliere — gather, collect, pick up
The catch-all "gather" verb. Used for collecting things, gathering crops, picking things up off the floor, raising money.
Raccogli i giocattoli prima di cena.
Pick up your toys before dinner.
Hanno raccolto firme per la petizione.
They collected signatures for the petition.
Distogliere — divert, distract (formal)
Less common but useful. Used especially for averting one's gaze or distracting attention.
Non distogliere lo sguardo!
Don't look away!
Mi ha distolto dal lavoro per un'ora.
He distracted me from work for an hour.
The reflexive: togliersi
Togliersi is the reflexive of togliere — used for taking something off oneself (clothing, accessories) or for getting oneself out of something (situations, places).
Mi tolgo la giacca, fa caldo qui dentro.
I'll take off my jacket, it's hot in here.
Togliti dai piedi!
Get out of the way! (idiomatic — literally 'take yourself off the feet')
Si è tolto la vita.
He took his own life. (euphemism for suicide)
The expression togliti di mezzo ("get out of the way") and togliti dai piedi are both common in everyday speech, with similar meanings.
Common mistakes
❌ Tu tolgi le scarpe?
Incorrect — the tu form is togli, not tolgi. The -lg- is only in 1sg (tolgo) and 3pl (tolgono).
✅ Tu togli le scarpe?
Correct — togli with the regular -gli-.
❌ Loro coglono i fiori.
Incorrect — the loro form is colgono. (Pattern: 1sg colgo → 3pl colgono.)
✅ Loro colgono i fiori.
Correct — colgono with -lg-.
❌ Ho toglito le tende.
Incorrect — the past participle of togliere is tolto, not toglito.
✅ Ho tolto le tende.
Correct — tolto, the irregular -lto participle.
❌ Hanno scegliuto Marco come capitano.
Incorrect — the past participle of scegliere is scelto, not scegliuto.
✅ Hanno scelto Marco come capitano.
Correct — scelto follows the family pattern.
❌ Noi tolghiamo i piatti dalla tavola.
Incorrect — the noi form is togliamo, not tolghiamo. Only the 1sg and 3pl get the -lg- form.
✅ Noi togliamo i piatti dalla tavola.
Correct — togliamo with -gli-.
❌ Pronouncing 'tolgo' as /ˈto.ʎo/ (with palatal ɲ-like sound).
Incorrect — tolgo is /ˈtɔl.go/, with separate /l/ and /g/. The palatal /ʎ/ only appears when -gl- is followed by -i-.
✅ Pronouncing 'tolgo' as /ˈtɔl.go/ (with hard /lg/).
Correct — separate consonants in the -lg- cluster.
Key takeaways
The -gliere family is one of Italian's clearest examples of economy through pattern: six high-frequency verbs, one shared conjugation. Once you have togliere memorized, you have cogliere, scegliere, sciogliere, accogliere, raccogliere, distogliere for free.
Three points to internalize:
The -lg- / -gli- alternation in the present. -lg- in 1sg and 3pl (tolgo, tolgono — pronounced /lg/); -gli- elsewhere (togli, toglie, togliamo, togliete — pronounced /ʎ/). The alternation is phonological, not grammatical: it depends on what vowel follows.
The -lto past participle. Tolto, colto, scelto, sciolto, accolto, raccolto, distolto. Memorize once for the family.
The passato remoto -si pattern. -si in 1sg, -se in 3sg, -sero in 3pl; regular -ere endings in 2sg, 1pl, 2pl. Same pattern as prendere, mettere, vedere, and dozens of other strong -ere verbs.
For the canonical example with full detail and context, see scegliere. For the broader pattern of -g- insertion in the present indicative, see also salire and venire, which use the same insertion principle without the -gli- alternation.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Presente Indicativo: OverviewA1 — How Italian's most-used tense covers everything English splits between simple present and present progressive — and why 'sto facendo' is not the default.
- Presente: Scegliere (to choose)A2 — How to conjugate scegliere — the -lg- / -gli- alternation in the present, the irregular participle scelto, and the -si pattern in the passato remoto that links it to a whole family of verbs.
- Presente: Regular -ere VerbsA1 — How to conjugate the second-conjugation -ere verbs in the present indicative — the smallest of the three classes, but home to many of the most common verbs in the language.
- Presente: Salire (to go up / climb)A2 — How to conjugate salire — the -g- insertion in 1sg/3pl, the rare auxiliary alternation between essere and avere, and the prepositional patterns that make it useful for boarding trains, buses, and everything else.
- Auxiliary Verbs: avere, essere, stareA2 — The three auxiliary verbs that build Italian's compound tenses, the progressive, and the imminent future — and why getting them right is foundational.
- Regular vs Irregular VerbsA1 — What it means for an Italian verb to be regular, where irregularities tend to cluster, and the main families of irregular forms you will meet.