Quitter - transitive verb - but direct or indirect?

Michael D.C1Kwiziq community member

Quitter - transitive verb - but direct or indirect?

On a recent quiz - "Nous quittons Londres." - was marked correct, while, "Nous quittons de Londres."  Was marked incorrect.  -- While the lesson was clear as to why "Nous partons de Londres" was the only correct answer, it was unclear on the distinction for the verb quitter.  When I read other grammatically correct phrases as " Il a quitté de son plein gré." & "Il a quitté de son poste," where quitter is used as a direct transitive verb I get more confused.   What makes the only correct usage in this case -- "Nous quittons Londres" - indirect??  

Merci beaucoup!

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Michael, 

Just to add to Alan's excellent answer.

Il a quitté de son poste is incorrect 

Il a quitté Londres = He has left London

Il a quitté son poste He has left his job

Il a quitté sa femme  = He has left his wife

De son plein gré only describes the manner in which he left but you cannot say quitter de.

Hope this helps!

Alan G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

"De son plein gré" means "of his own free will", so it's not the object of the verb quitter. Although the lesson says that quitter has to have an object, I think it's acceptable if the object is understood. In full it would be "il a quitté son poste de son plein gré" .

Are you sure that "Il a quitté de son poste" is correct? It gets a few hits on google, but there are many more for "Il a quitté son poste".

Quitter - transitive verb - but direct or indirect?

On a recent quiz - "Nous quittons Londres." - was marked correct, while, "Nous quittons de Londres."  Was marked incorrect.  -- While the lesson was clear as to why "Nous partons de Londres" was the only correct answer, it was unclear on the distinction for the verb quitter.  When I read other grammatically correct phrases as " Il a quitté de son plein gré." & "Il a quitté de son poste," where quitter is used as a direct transitive verb I get more confused.   What makes the only correct usage in this case -- "Nous quittons Londres" - indirect??  

Merci beaucoup!

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