In today’s lesson we’ll have a look at the verb sortir, which means to go out. For example, “Je suis malade. Je ne sors pas aujorud’hui” (I’m sick. I’m not going out today). Students often confuse sortir with partir (to leave). By the end of this lesson the difference between the two verbs should be very clear.
sortir
to go out
Sortir – to go out in French
Present tense conjugation
Sortir (to go out) is an irregular IR verb. This means that its endings different than other regular IR verbs (such as finir – to leave) when conjugated in the present tense.
Je sors I go out
Tu sors You go out (singular, familiar)
Il, elle sort He, she goes out
Nous sortons We go out
Vous sortez You go out (plural, formal)
Ils, elles sortent They go out
Example sentences
The grammatical construction for sortir is: sortir de + place. Hence, sortir de la maison translates to “to go out of the home/house”. This lesson our site covers aujourd’hui (today).
Je ne me sens pas bien et je ne sors pas de la maison aujourd’hui.
I don’t feel well and I’m not going out of the house today.
The expression sortir ensemble means to go out romantically. The literal translation of depuis is since. When combined with present tense, it can be used to mean “have been”. This lesson explains depuis.
Martin et Julie sortent ensemble depuis trois ans.
Martin and Julie have been going out together for three years.
In French, the expression s’en sortir means “to cope”, “to get by” and “to get through”. Hence, je m’en sors means “I’ll get by” or “I’ll get through it”.
Ne t’inquiète pas, on va s’en sortir !
Don’t worry! We’ll get through it!
Sortir vs. Partir
As I mentioned earlier, students often confuse sortir (to go out) with a very similar verb, partir, which means “to leave”. The grammar for both verbs the same: partir de + place (to leave + place name).
Je n’aime pas Claude. Pourquoi est-ce qu’il ne part pas?
I don’t like Claude. Why isn’t he leaving?
This final sentence is in the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense. Note the usage of être (to be) as the auxiliary verb. This lesson explains the passé composé in detail.
Ils sont partis de la maison hier.
They left the house yesterday.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! Now you know how to use the verb sortir (to go out) and not confuse it with partir (to leave). Now check our our lesson covering two other confusing verbs: commander and ordonner (both mean to order in different contexts).
