All about Sortir

Sortir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, and may require either être or avoir in the compound tenses, depending on whether it means "to go out" or "to take out."


Sortir most commonly means "to go out" or "to leave":

Je veux sortir ce soir
I want to go out tonight

Nous ne sommes pas sortis depuis deux mois
We haven't gone out for two months

Meaning of sortir

Sortir is essentially the opposite of entrer (to enter). The meaning of sortir changes slightly depending on what follows it.


1a. sortir de - to get out of, leave

Tu dois sortir de l'eau
You need to get out of the water

Sortez de chez moi !
Get out of my house!

D'où sort-il ?
Where has he been?

1b. sortir de (informal) - to have just done something

On sort de manger
We just ate

Il sortait de finir
He had just finished

2. sortir en / à - to go out in / on

Nous allons sortir en voiture
We're going to go out in the car / go for a drive

Je veux sortir à bicyclette
I want to go out on my bike / go for a bike ride

Il est sorti à pied
He walked out / left on foot

3. sortir en + present participle - to ___ out

Pourquoi est-il sorti en courant ?
Why did he run out?

Elle sort en boitant
She is limping out

4. sortir par - to get out by means of

Tu ne peux pas sortir par la porte
You can't get out through the door

L'oiseau est sorti par la fenêtre
The bird went out the window

5. sortir + direct object - to take out

Tu dois sortir le chien ce soir
You need to take the dog out tonight

J'ai sorti la voiture du garage
I took the car out of the garage

Auxiliary verbs for sortir

In the compound tenses and moods, sortir may be conjugated with être or avoir:

1. When sortir is used intransitively, the auxiliary verb is être

Es-tu sorti hier soir ?
Did you go out last night?

Je serai sorti avant midi
I will have gone out before noon

2. When sortir is used transitively, the auxiliary verb is avoir

Nous avions déjà sorti des vêtements quand...
We had already taken some clothes out when...

J'ai sorti la voiture du garage
I took the car out of the garage

Sortir as a pronominal verb

Se sortir de means to get out of, extricate oneself

J'espère qu'il va pouvoir se sortir de cette situation
I hope he'll be able to get out of that situation.

Je me suis sorti d'un mauvais pas
I got out of a tight spot

S'en sortir means to survive/get through a dangerous or difficult situation

Je ne sais pas s'il va s'en sortir
I don't know if he's going to make it / pull through.

Tu t'en es bien sorti !
You've done really well!

Conjugations

Present tense

je sors
tu sors
il sort
nous sortons
vous sortez
ils sortent

All tenses