Sortir means “to go out,” “to leave,” or “to come out.” It also describes a result (el pastís ha sortit bé), an appearance in the media, and something emerging from a place. Its conjugation is largely regular, but the present family alternates between surt- and sort-. English does not encode that alternation, and it also divides the meanings among leave, go out, come out, and turn out.
The useful principal parts are surto – sortia – sortí – sortiré – surti – sortit. Learn them as a family: surt- appears in most present indicative forms and in the corresponding present subjunctive and imperative cells, while sort- remains in sortim/sortiu and throughout the nonpresent tenses. The future and conditional preserve the full infinitive base sortir-.
The broader pattern is compared on the present vowel alternations page; here the focus stays on the complete reference for sortir.
Nonfinite forms and stem map
| Form | Catalan | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | sortir | to go out; to leave; to emerge |
| Perfect infinitive | haver sortit | to have gone out |
| Gerund | sortint | going out; while leaving |
| Perfect gerund | havent sortit | having gone out |
| Participle | sortit; sortida, sortits, sortides | gone out; emerged |
Compound tenses use haver + sortit: hem sortit, never som sortits in contemporary Catalan. With haver, the participle is invariable. Agreeing sortida/sortits/sortides belongs to adjectival uses, as in una peça sortida de fàbrica, not to the ordinary perfect.
Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | surto | surts | surt | sortim | sortiu | surten |
| Imperfect | sortia | sorties | sortia | sortíem | sortíeu | sortien |
| Periphrastic past | vaig sortir | vas sortir | va sortir | vam sortir | vau sortir | van sortir |
| Simple past | sortí | sortires | sortí | sortírem | sortíreu | sortiren |
| Future | sortiré | sortiràs | sortirà | sortirem | sortireu | sortiran |
| Conditional | sortiria | sortiries | sortiria | sortiríem | sortiríeu | sortirien |
The ordinary conversational past is the periphrastic series vaig sortir.... The simple past sortí, sortires... is (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan, while remaining alive in some Valencian and Balearic speech (regional). Present sortim and future sortirem look similar, but only the future contains the full infinitive stem and final stress. Within the present system, sortim/sortiu can be indicative, subjunctive, or an imperative according to the surrounding syntax and intonation.
Surto de casa abans de les set per evitar el trànsit.
I leave home before seven to avoid the traffic.
Quan érem estudiants, sortíem a sopar els dijous.
When we were students, we used to go out for dinner on Thursdays.
Ahir vam sortir del teatre per la porta lateral.
Yesterday we left the theatre through the side door.
La portaveu sortí al balcó i anuncià l'acord.
The spokesperson came out onto the balcony and announced the agreement. (formal/literary)
Indicative compound tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | he sortit | has sortit | ha sortit | hem sortit | heu sortit | han sortit |
| Pluperfect | havia sortit | havies sortit | havia sortit | havíem sortit | havíeu sortit | havien sortit |
| Past anterior | haguí sortit | hagueres sortit | hagué sortit | haguérem sortit | haguéreu sortit | hagueren sortit |
| Future perfect | hauré sortit | hauràs sortit | haurà sortit | haurem sortit | haureu sortit | hauran sortit |
| Conditional perfect | hauria sortit | hauries sortit | hauria sortit | hauríem sortit | hauríeu sortit | haurien sortit |
The past anterior is (formal/literary) and usually follows a time connector: tan bon punt hagué sortit. The periphrastic anterior is vaig haver sortit, vas haver sortit, va haver sortit, vam haver sortit, vau haver sortit, van haver sortit. Everyday speech normally chooses havia sortit or the ordinary periphrastic past instead.
Ja hem sortit de l'autopista; arribarem d'aquí a vint minuts.
We've already left the motorway; we'll arrive in twenty minutes.
A les nou ja hauran sortit els resultats definitius.
By nine the final results will already have come out.
Subjunctive and imperative
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present subjunctive | surti | surtis | surti | sortim | sortiu | surtin |
| Imperfect subjunctive | sortís | sortissis | sortís | sortíssim | sortíssiu | sortissin |
| Perfect subjunctive | hagi sortit | hagis sortit | hagi sortit | hàgim sortit | hàgiu sortit | hagin sortit |
| Pluperfect subjunctive | hagués sortit | haguessis sortit | hagués sortit | haguéssim sortit | haguéssiu sortit | haguessin sortit |
| Restricted periphrastic series | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative past anterior | vaig haver sortit | vas haver sortit | va haver sortit | vam haver sortit | vau haver sortit | van haver sortit |
| Subjunctive past | vagi sortir | vagis sortir | vagi sortir | vàgim sortir | vàgiu sortir | vagin sortir |
| Subjunctive past anterior | vagi haver sortit | vagis haver sortit | vagi haver sortit | vàgim haver sortit | vàgiu haver sortit | vagin haver sortit |
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | surt | no surtis |
| vostè | surti | no surti |
| nosaltres | sortim | no sortim |
| vosaltres | sortiu | no sortiu |
| vostès | surtin | no surtin |
These periphrastic subjunctive forms are (regional/formal); they are part of the system but not a priority for everyday Central Catalan.
No vull que surtis sola tan tard.
I don't want you to go out alone so late.
Si sortíssim ara, encara trobaríem el forn obert.
If we left now, we'd still find the bakery open.
Surt un moment al replà i mira si ha arribat l'ascensor.
Step out onto the landing for a moment and see whether the lift has arrived.
Meanings, prepositions, and weak pronouns
The departure point takes de: sortir de casa, de l'oficina, d'un problema. An activity commonly takes a + infinitive: sortir a comprar, a córrer, a sopar. A destination can take cap a or en direcció a. English “leave for Paris” therefore should not trigger sortir de París unless Paris is the point of origin.
In sortir-se'n, the verb means “manage, get through it.” The pronouns are not decorative: en refers to the difficulty or situation and se belongs to the construction. Plain sortir cannot freely replace it. Another high-frequency construction, nonpronominal sortir amb algú, means “date someone” (informal/neutral), while sortir bé/mal means “turn out well/badly.”
—Com t'ha anat l'entrevista? —Al principi estava nerviosa, però me n'he sortit prou bé.
—How did the interview go? —I was nervous at first, but I managed fairly well.
Aquest arròs t'ha sortit boníssim; en voldré repetir.
This rice has turned out delicious; I'll want another helping.
La Júlia surt amb l'Èric des de principis d'estiu.
Júlia has been dating Èric since the beginning of summer.
(Regional: Valencian) eixir is the usual lexical equivalent in broad Valencian usage, with its own paradigm; that does not make sortir nonstandard. When sortir itself is used in the Valencian standard, its present begins surt and its present subjunctive begins surta. (Regional: Balearic) likewise has first-person present surt and also admits sortiguem/sortigueu beside sortim/sortiu in the present subjunctive. These are coherent regional paradigms; learners aiming at a Central baseline should retain surto and surti.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jo sorteixo de la feina a les sis.
Incorrect—sortir is not incoative; the first-person present is surto.
✅ Jo surto de la feina a les sis.
I leave work at six.
❌ Demà surtiré abans que avui.
Incorrect—the future preserves the infinitive spelling sortir-, not the present stem surt-.
✅ Demà sortiré abans que avui.
Tomorrow I'll leave earlier than today.
❌ Sortim comprar pa abans de dinar.
Incorrect—an activity or purpose after sortir requires a before the infinitive.
✅ Sortim a comprar pa abans de dinar.
Let's go out to buy bread before lunch.
❌ L'examen era difícil, però he sortit-me'n.
Incorrect—the idiom is sortir-se'n, but its clitics precede the finite perfect auxiliary.
✅ L'examen era difícil, però me n'he sortit.
The exam was difficult, but I managed.
❌ Espero que surto abans de les vuit.
Incorrect—the subordinate event after espero que requires the subjunctive, not indicative surto.
✅ Espero que surtis abans de les vuit.
I hope you leave before eight.
Key Takeaways
Remember surto/surts/surt/sortim/sortiu/surten, then use the regular sort- or sortir- families elsewhere. Build all compound forms with haver + sortit. Keep de for origin and a + infinitive for an outing or purpose. Finally, treat sortir-se'n as a complete pronominal construction meaning “manage,” not as optional decoration around plain sortir.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Conjugation of anarA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of anar for movement, destinations, the periphrastic past, weak pronouns, and pronominal anar-se'n.
- Conjugation of venirA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of venir for motion toward a deictic center, origin, suitability, weak pronouns, and regional forms.
- Conjugation of entrarA2 — Complete contemporary conjugation of entrar for movement inward, entering states and institutions, transitive uses, and locative clitics.
- Present-Tense Vowel AlternationsA2 — Recognize the stress-conditioned and lexical vowel alternations in Catalan presents such as surto/sortim, cullo/collim, and treu/traiem.
- Present Subjunctive of -er, -re, and -ir VerbsB1 — Build present-subjunctive forms of regular second- and third-conjugation verbs, including pure and incoative -ir patterns and regional standards.