In French, depending on context, you use one of these four verbs to express to leave: partir, laisser, quitter or sortir.
How to express "to leave" in French
Here's how to use each of them correctly:
Partir
- partir means to leave / to go away.
You can use it on its own (I leave = Je pars).
When you use it with a place, it is always followed by a preposition (I leave from / for ... = Je pars de / pour ...).
You can use it on its own (I leave = Je pars).
When you use it with a place, it is always followed by a preposition (I leave from / for ... = Je pars de / pour ...).
Special case:
It's very colloquial to say partir en vacances for to go on holiday:
Sortir
- sortir means to go/come out.
When used with de, as in sortir de + [place], it can express the idea of leaving [somewhere], in the sense of going/coming out of a place.
When used with de, as in sortir de + [place], it can express the idea of leaving [somewhere], in the sense of going/coming out of a place.
Quitter
- quitter generally means to leave a place / somewhere. You cannot use it on its own: it always needs an object.
In the context of work, quitter can have two meanings. Like in English, it can mean to quit a job for good, but it can also simply mean leaving one's place of work (on that day).
Laisser
- laisser means to leave something / to let. You cannot use it on its own. However, this one is NOT used for places, only to leave people or things in places.
Grammar Jargon:
partir is an intransitive verb, whereas quitter and laisser are always transitive verbs (i.e. have a direct object) and sortir can be either.
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