Learn French: Il part de l'hôpital. - He is leaving from the hospital.

Il part de l'hôpital.

He is leaving from the hospital.

Breakdown of Il part de l'hôpital.

of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)

Questions & Answers about Il part de l'hôpital.

Since hospital is masculine in French, why isn't it du hôpital?

Even though hôpital is masculine, it starts with a silent 'h', which acts just like a vowel in French. Because of this, you must use l' instead of le. The preposition de never contracts with l', so instead of turning into du, it stays exactly as it is: de l'hôpital.

Doesn't the verb partir already mean 'to leave'? Why do we need to add de?

The verb partir means 'to leave' or 'to depart' in a general sense, but it cannot connect directly to a place. If you want to say where someone is leaving from, you must always use the preposition de (from). You cannot say Il part l'hôpital; it must be Il part de l'hôpital.

Could I say Il sort de l'hôpital instead?

Yes, but there is a slight difference in meaning. Il sort de l'hôpital literally means 'He is going out of the hospital' (focusing on physically exiting the building) or 'He is being discharged' (as a patient). Il part de l'hôpital focuses more on the journey, meaning the hospital is just the starting point of his trip.

Why does hôpital have a little hat accent on the 'o'?

That accent is called a circumflex (ô). In French, it is often a historical marker showing that an 's' used to follow that vowel hundreds of years ago. You can actually see this hidden history because English kept the 's' in the word 'hospital'! It doesn't change how you pronounce the 'o' in this word.