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Leaving a French Verb
Sortir is one of the most common and useful French verbs and has irregular conjugations in most tenses and moods. It’s one of a handful of French verbs that may need avoir or être as its helping verb, depending on what it means.
Sortir = to leave, go out
The most common meaning of sortir is "to leave" or "to go out." Here, sortir is intransitive (does not have a direct object).
Par exemple…
| À quelle heure les enfants sortent-ils ? | When do the children leave? | |
| Tu sors aujourd’hui ou demain ? | Are you leaving today or tomorrow? | |
| Je sors maintenant. | I’m leaving now. | |
| Nous sortons tous les soirs à huit heures. | We go out every night at 8. |
Sortir + direct object = to take out
When sortir is transitive (has a direct object), it means "to take out."
Par exemple…
| Je dois sortir les épinards du congélateur. | I have to take the spinach out of the freezer. | |
| Elle sort les enfants tous les week-ends. | She takes the kids out every weekend. |
Prepositions after sortir can change its meaning.
Sortir de
Sortir de usually means to physically get out of something.
Par exemple…
| Tu dois sortir du lit immédiatement. | You need to get out of bed right now. | |
| Sortons d’ici ! | Let’s get out of here! |
Informally, it means to have just done something (synonymous with venir de).
Par exemple…
| Je sors de voir mes parents. | I just saw my parents. | |
| On sort d’acheter une voiture. | We just bought a car. |
Sortir par = to go out via
Sortir par expresses how one gets out.
Par exemple…
| Je vais sortir par la porte arrière. | I’m going to go out the back door. | |
| Tu peux sortir par la rue Gambetta. | You can leave via Gambetta Street. |
Sortir with transportation = to go out on / in / by
Sortir à and sortir en are used to describe going out with a stated means of transportation.
Par exemple…
| On peut sortir à pied. | We could go on foot. | |
| Il sort souvent à vélo. | He often goes by bike. | |
| Tu vas sortir en voiture ? | Are you going to go by car? | |
| Je préfère sortir en bus. | I prefer to go by bus. |
Sortir en + gerund
Sortir en followed by a gerund means "to go out -ing" or "while -ing" – whatever is expressed by that gerund.
Par exemple…
| Il est sorti en souriant. | He went out smiling. | |
| Je vais sortir en courant. | I’m going to run out. |
Auxiliary Verbs
Sortir is one of the French verbs that may take either auxiliary verb in the compound tenses, depending on how it’s used.
When intransitive, meaning that it does not have a direct object, sortir is an être verb.
Par exemple…
| À quelle heure êtes-vous sortis ? | What time did you leave? | |
| Je suis sorti avec Paulette. | I went out with Paulette. |
When sortir is transitive (has a direct object), it needs avoir as its auxiliary and means "to take out."
Par exemple…
| Est-ce que tu as sorti la pizza du four ? | Did you take the pizza out of the oven? | |
| J’ai sorti mon vélo pour faire un tour. | I took my bike out for a spin. |
Pronominal verb
Se sortir de means to get out of a bad situation, to make it through.
Par exemple…
| Comment s’est-il sorti de son dilemme ? | How did he get out of his dilemma? | |
| Je ne sais pas comment me sortir de cette situation. | I don’t know how to get through this situation. | |
| Heureusement, elle s’en est sortie. | Fortunately, she made it through. |
Related lessons
Antonym: entrer (to enter)
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