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
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”.
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.
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.
Ils sont partis de la maison hier.
They left the house yesterday.
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