Sortir is one of the high-frequency 3e-groupe -ir verbs that English speakers must master early. Its core meaning is to go out — leaving an enclosed space — but it stretches to cover dating (sortir avec quelqu'un), publishing (le livre sort en mars), and physically removing something (sortir le chien). It is the sister of partir: same conjugation pattern, same auxiliary alternation. This page is the full reference: the paradigms in every tense, the all-important être-vs-avoir switch when sortir takes a direct object, and the idioms.
The trap to flag up front: sortir is in the maison d'être (so je suis sorti is "I went out"), but the moment you give it a direct object — sortir le chien, sortir un livre — it switches to avoir, and the past participle behaves entirely differently. Get this right and you have unlocked a pattern that applies to monter, descendre, passer, and rentrer too.
The conjugation pattern
Sortir belongs to the 3e groupe (irregular -ir, no -iss-). The pattern: in the singular, the consonant before the ending drops; in the plural, it returns. So je sors (no t), nous sortons (t restored). This is the same shape as partir, dormir, sentir, mentir, and servir — learn one and you have the family.
Présent de l'indicatif
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | sors | /sɔʁ/ |
| tu | sors | /sɔʁ/ |
| il / elle / on | sort | /sɔʁ/ |
| nous | sortons | /sɔʁ.tɔ̃/ |
| vous | sortez | /sɔʁ.te/ |
| ils / elles | sortent | /sɔʁt/ |
The three singular forms are pronounced identically — the ending is silent. Only context and the pronoun tell them apart. Beginners worry about this, but native speakers process it without effort.
Je sors avec des amis ce soir, on se voit demain.
I'm going out with friends tonight, see you tomorrow.
À quelle heure tu sors du boulot d'habitude ?
What time do you usually get out of work?
On sort du cinéma vers vingt-trois heures.
We get out of the movie around eleven.
Imparfait
Built on the nous stem sort- plus the regular imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | sortais |
| tu | sortais |
| il / elle / on | sortait |
| nous | sortions |
| vous | sortiez |
| ils / elles | sortaient |
Quand j'étais étudiante, je sortais tous les jeudis soirs.
When I was a student, I used to go out every Thursday night.
Il sortait de chez lui quand le facteur est arrivé.
He was leaving his place when the postman arrived.
Passé simple (literary)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | sortis |
| tu | sortis |
| il / elle / on | sortit |
| nous | sortîmes |
| vous | sortîtes |
| ils / elles | sortirent |
Note the circumflex on nous sortîmes and vous sortîtes — required in literary French.
Elle sortit en claquant la porte.
She went out, slamming the door. (literary)
Futur simple
The futur stem is the full infinitive sortir-, plus the standard endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | sortirai |
| tu | sortiras |
| il / elle / on | sortira |
| nous | sortirons |
| vous | sortirez |
| ils / elles | sortiront |
Le nouveau roman de Houellebecq sortira en septembre.
Houellebecq's new novel will come out in September.
On sortira plus tard, il pleut trop là.
We'll go out later, it's raining too hard right now.
Conditionnel présent
Same stem sortir-, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | sortirais |
| tu | sortirais |
| il / elle / on | sortirait |
| nous | sortirions |
| vous | sortiriez |
| ils / elles | sortiraient |
Si j'avais le temps, je sortirais plus souvent.
If I had time, I'd go out more often.
Subjonctif présent
Stem sort- (same as nous sortons with the -ons dropped).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | sorte |
| (que) tu | sortes |
| (qu')il / elle / on | sorte |
| (que) nous | sortions |
| (que) vous | sortiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | sortent |
Il faut que tu sortes prendre l'air, ça te fera du bien.
You need to go out and get some air, it'll do you good.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | sors |
| (nous) | sortons |
| (vous) | sortez |
Sors d'ici tout de suite !
Get out of here right now!
Sortez vos cahiers, on va commencer.
Take out your notebooks, we're going to start.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: sorti (agrees: sorti / sortie / sortis / sorties when used with être)
- Participe présent: sortant
- Gérondif: en sortant
En sortant du métro, j'ai croisé une vieille amie.
On my way out of the metro, I ran into an old friend.
The auxiliary switch: être vs avoir
This is the central thing to understand about sortir, and it scales to monter, descendre, passer, rentrer, and retourner. The rule:
- Intransitive (no direct object) → être. Je suis sorti = I went out.
- Transitive (with direct object) → avoir. J'ai sorti le chien = I took the dog out.
The reasoning is mechanical. Être in the maison d'être is reserved for verbs of motion or change of state where the subject itself moves or changes. The moment sortir takes an object (a thing being moved or removed), the focus shifts to the object, the subject becomes an agent, and the verb behaves like any normal transitive verb — therefore avoir.
Intransitive: être
Elle est sortie il y a cinq minutes, elle revient bientôt.
She went out five minutes ago, she'll be back soon.
On est sortis tard hier soir, je suis crevée.
We went out late last night, I'm exhausted.
Mes parents sont sortis dîner en ville.
My parents have gone out for dinner in town.
The participle agrees with the subject: sorti(e)(s). Elle est sortie, ils sont sortis, elles sont sorties.
Transitive: avoir
J'ai sorti le chien à six heures du matin.
I took the dog out at six in the morning.
Tu as sorti la poubelle ?
Did you take out the trash?
Ils ont sorti un nouvel album le mois dernier.
They released a new album last month.
With avoir, the past participle agrees only with a preceding direct object (the standard rule). Le chien que j'ai sorti — agreement triggered. J'ai sorti le chien — no agreement (object follows the verb).
The major uses
1. To go out / exit a space
The literal physical sense.
Je suis sortie de la salle pendant la pause.
I went out of the room during the break.
Le chat veut sortir, ouvre-lui la porte.
The cat wants to go out, open the door for him.
2. To go out socially
The "evening out" sense — same word, no special marker needed.
On sort vendredi, tu viens avec nous ?
We're going out Friday, are you coming with us?
Je n'ai pas le temps de sortir cette semaine.
I don't have time to go out this week.
3. Sortir avec — to date
A foundational idiom for talking about relationships in everyday French.
Ils sortent ensemble depuis l'été dernier.
They've been dating since last summer.
Tu sors avec quelqu'un en ce moment ?
Are you seeing anyone right now?
The expression sortir avec quelqu'un is the standard way to say "to date someone" in French — much more common than the formal fréquenter quelqu'un.
4. To release / publish / come out (of media)
Le film sort en salle la semaine prochaine.
The film comes out in theaters next week.
Quand est-ce que ton bouquin sort ?
When does your book come out?
5. To take out / pull out / produce (transitive)
Il a sorti son portefeuille pour payer.
He pulled out his wallet to pay.
Sors les verres, on va prendre l'apéro.
Get the glasses out, we're having drinks.
6. S'en sortir — to manage, get by, pull through
A pronominal idiom — extremely high-frequency. Literally "to get oneself out of (it)," figuratively "to cope, manage, succeed."
Avec deux gosses et un boulot, je m'en sors comme je peux.
With two kids and a job, I manage as best I can.
Ne t'inquiète pas, il s'en sortira.
Don't worry, he'll pull through.
Comment tu t'en sors avec le nouveau logiciel ?
How are you getting on with the new software?
High-frequency idioms
- sortir de l'ordinaire — to be out of the ordinary
- sortir indemne de — to come out unharmed from
- sortir d'une école / d'une fac — to graduate from (literally: to come out of)
- sortir de ses gonds — to lose one's temper (literally: to come off one's hinges)
- sortir le grand jeu — to pull out all the stops
- sortir de nulle part — to come out of nowhere
- ne pas sortir de la cuisse de Jupiter — to not be all that special (literary / ironic)
Cette voiture-là, ça sort de l'ordinaire.
That car, now that's out of the ordinary.
Il est sorti d'une grande école parisienne.
He's a graduate of a top Parisian school.
Quand il a vu la facture, il est sorti de ses gonds.
When he saw the bill, he flew off the handle.
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
English "go out" is monolithic; French sortir splits. English can say "I went out the dog" only colloquially in certain dialects. In French, sortir le chien is standard and switches the auxiliary. Internalize that sortir is genuinely transitive when it takes an object.
"Date" maps to sortir avec, not a single verb. English has to date someone — French has sortir avec quelqu'un. There is no single-word equivalent in everyday French. Dater exists but means "to date" in the sense of to be from a certain era (ce livre date du XVIᵉ siècle).
The être / avoir alternation has no English parallel. English uses have for all perfect tenses regardless of verb. The mental work of choosing between je suis sorti and j'ai sorti is wholly extra for English speakers — but it is mechanical once you internalize "object = avoir, no object = être."
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using avoir for the intransitive sense.
❌ J'ai sorti hier soir avec des amis.
Wrong — without a direct object, *sortir* takes *être*.
✅ Je suis sortie hier soir avec des amis.
I went out last night with friends.
Mistake 2: Using être when there is a direct object.
❌ Je suis sorti le chien ce matin.
Wrong — with a direct object (*le chien*), *sortir* takes *avoir*.
✅ J'ai sorti le chien ce matin.
I took the dog out this morning.
Mistake 3: Forgetting agreement with être.
❌ Elle est sorti vers vingt heures.
Wrong — with *être*, the participle agrees with the subject (feminine: *sortie*).
✅ Elle est sortie vers vingt heures.
She went out around eight.
Mistake 4: Using avec unnecessarily for date.
❌ Je date Marc depuis trois mois.
Wrong — French does not use *dater* for romantic relationships.
✅ Je sors avec Marc depuis trois mois.
I've been dating Marc for three months.
Mistake 5: Adding de before a definite article unnecessarily, or omitting it where required.
❌ Il est sorti la maison.
Wrong — *sortir* requires *de* to mark the place left.
✅ Il est sorti de la maison.
He went out of the house.
Key takeaways
Sortir is the 3e-groupe -ir verb meaning to go out / exit / take out / release. Its conjugation pattern is identical to partir, dormir, sentir, mentir, and servir: drop the consonant in the singular present (je sors), restore it in the plural (nous sortons).
The key feature is the auxiliary switch: intransitive sortir (just leaving a space) takes être (je suis sorti); transitive sortir (taking something out, releasing something) takes avoir (j'ai sorti le chien). The same alternation governs monter, descendre, passer, rentrer, and retourner.
The futur and conditionnel are formed regularly on the infinitive stem (sortirai, sortirais); the subjunctive uses the present nous stem (que je sorte); the past participle is sorti(e)(s). The high-frequency idioms — sortir avec quelqu'un, s'en sortir, sortir un livre — are everyday vocabulary you cannot avoid.
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