Sair (To Leave/Go Out) — Full Conjugation

Sair means to leave, to go out, to exit. It is the verb you use for walking out of a building, leaving the house in the morning, going out with friends on a Friday night, a train departing a station, or a newspaper coming out on a Sunday. It is one of the small but useful -air group (along with cair — to fall, trair — to betray, and a few compounds), and its quirks are the same across the group: a stressed i in the stem that carries a written accent whenever the i forms a separate syllable from the previous vowel, and a slightly unusual eu-present (saio) with a glide-like i.

Learn sair well and you effectively learn cair and trair for free. The conjugation pattern is identical.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The eu form is saio (with an epenthetic i that belongs to the stem, not the ending), and the nós and vós forms take hiatus accents: saímos, saís.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Every form carries a hiatus accent on the í, because the a and i are in separate syllables throughout.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Regular -ir preterite endings, all with hiatus accents on the í (except the 3rd singular saiu and 3rd plural saíram — see below).

The nós form saímos is identical in the present and preterite (as with all regular -ir verbs); context tells you which is meant. Compare sai (3sg present) vs. saí (1sg preterite) — the accent is the only thing distinguishing them in writing, and the pronunciation is different.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

Literary. Built on the preterite stem saí-.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Repeated or continuous action up to now. Tenho saído muito ultimamente — I've been going out a lot lately.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Built on the infinitive sair-. No hiatus accent here — the ai becomes a diphthong again because the stress falls on the ending.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Built from the eu-present saio — drop the -o and add -a endings. Every form carries the glide i.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Built on the preterite stem saí-; hiatus accents throughout.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Identical in form to the personal infinitive, with hiatus accents where the stress falls on the í.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative (subjunctive with não):

Sai daí! ("get out of there!") and sai já! ("leave, now!") are both everyday commands. Saia! is the formal equivalent you might hear from a security guard or a teacher.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Takes hiatus accents where the stress falls on the í — specifically in saíres and saírem.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage notes

Sair + preposition

Sair is almost always followed by a preposition that specifies where from or where to:

• sair de (+ place) — to leave from: sair de casa (leave the house), sair do trabalho (leave work)
• sair para (+ place/purpose) — to go out to/for: sair para o parque (go out to the park), sair para jantar fora (go out for dinner)
• sair com (+ person) — to go out with someone; often carries the sense of dating
• sair à noite / à tarde — to go out at night / in the afternoon

Sair-se bem / sair-se mal — to fare well / badly

With the reflexive pronoun, sair-se means to come out (of a situation) well or badly, i.e. to fare. Often used for exams, interviews, competitions.

Sair (of a publication, a movie, news)

Sair is the standard verb for to come out (a book, a film, a newspaper, a new song).

Idiomatic uses

• sair a alguém — to take after someone (in looks or character): a minha filha saiu ao pai (my daughter takes after her father)
• sair do sério — to lose one's temper, to snap
• sair caro / barato — to turn out expensive / cheap
• sair da boca — for something to slip out of your mouth; não sei como aquilo me saiu da boca (I don't know how that slipped out)
• sair do armário — to come out (of the closet)

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Sair is a third-conjugation (-air subgroup) verb, regular within its group. The same pattern applies to cair and trair.
• Hiatus accents on í are mandatory wherever the a and i are in separate syllables: saí, saíste, saímos, saíram, saía, saíamos, saído, saíres, saírem. Missing an accent is an orthographic error.
• The eu-present is saio (not sao); the present subjunctive is saia, saias, saia, saiamos, saiam — all built from the sai- stem.
• Sair de
  • place = leave from; sair para
    • place = go out to / for; sair com
      • person = go out with (often dating).
• Sair-se bem / mal = to fare well / badly.
• Sair is also the standard verb for a book, film, or newspaper coming out.
• Sair a alguém = to take after someone in looks or character — a common idiomatic use to learn.