Partir Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

partir means to leave, to depart, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Partir means to leave or to depart, and it is used for leaving on a journey, a train departing and, with de, leaving a place. It also means to split or divide something, as in partir el pan, so the context tells you which sense is meant. It is a regular -ir verb. This page puts partir to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for partir, and the full tables are on the partir conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo parto de Madrid a las ocho. — I leave from Madrid at eight.
  2. Él parte mañana por la mañana. — He/she leaves tomorrow morning.
  3. Ayer, yo partí el pan en dos mitades. — Yesterday, I left the bread in two halves.
  4. Antes, nosotros partíamos hacia el aeropuerto temprano. — Before, we used to leave for the airport early.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú partirás de Madrid a las ocho. — Tomorrow, you will leave from Madrid at eight.
  2. Yo partiría mañana por la mañana. — I would leave tomorrow morning.
  3. Él ha partido el pan en dos mitades. — He/she has left the bread in two halves.
  4. Espero que él parta hacia el aeropuerto temprano. — I hope he/she leaves for the airport early.

With other people

  1. Nosotros partimos de Madrid a las ocho. — We leave from Madrid at eight.
  2. Vosotros partís mañana por la mañana. — You all leave tomorrow morning.
  3. Antes, ellos partían el pan en dos mitades. — Before, they used to leave the bread in two halves.
  4. Mañana, él partirá hacia el aeropuerto temprano. — Tomorrow, he/she will leave for the airport early.

Partir in context

Two short dialogues that use partir the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy parto de Madrid a las ocho." — "Today I leave from Madrid at eight."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, partí el pan en dos mitades." — "Yesterday I left the bread in two halves."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú partirás mañana por la mañana?" — "And tomorrow, will you will leave tomorrow morning?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros partimos hacia el aeropuerto temprano." — "Tomorrow we leave for the airport early."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo partiría mañana por la mañana si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would leave tomorrow morning if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él parta de Madrid a las ocho." — "I hope he leaves from Madrid at eight."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha partido el pan en dos mitades." — "Surely. He has already has left the bread in two halves."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo parte de Madrid a las ocho. — Right: Yo parto de Madrid a las ocho. — The person matters: parte is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is parto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros partis mañana por la mañana. — Right: Vosotros partís mañana por la mañana. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: partís, not partis. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating partir and salir as identical in every context. — Right: Partir means to leave, to depart, while salir means to go out or leave a place. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: partir fits sentences such as Parto de Madrid a las ocho, while salir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy partido mañana por la mañana. — Right: Yo he partido mañana por la mañana. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he partido, has partido, ha partido. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo partí el pan en dos mitades todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo partía el pan en dos mitades todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (partía), not the preterite. The preterite (partí) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on partir: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ de Madrid a las ocho. (present tense) A. parto B. partes C. parte D. partimos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ mañana por la mañana. (preterite tense) A. partí B. partiste C. partimos D. partió

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el pan en dos mitades. (future tense) A. partirá B. partiremos C. partirás D. partiré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ hacia el aeropuerto temprano. (imperfect tense) A. partíais B. partíamos C. partía D. partías

  5. What does "Yo parto de Madrid a las ocho." mean in English? A. I leave from Madrid at eight. B. I leave tomorrow morning. C. I leave the bread in two halves. D. I leave for the airport early.

  6. What does "Él partió mañana por la mañana." mean in English? A. He/she left from Madrid at eight. B. He/she left the bread in two halves. C. He/she left for the airport early. D. He/she left tomorrow morning.

  7. What does "Nosotros partiremos el pan en dos mitades." mean in English? A. We will leave tomorrow morning. B. We will leave for the airport early. C. We will leave the bread in two halves. D. We will leave from Madrid at eight.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo parten mañana por la mañana. B. Yo parte mañana por la mañana. C. Yo parto mañana por la mañana.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él partí el pan en dos mitades. B. Él partió el pan en dos mitades. C. Él partieron el pan en dos mitades.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo parta hacia el aeropuerto temprano. B. Yo partan hacia el aeropuerto temprano. C. Yo parta hacia el aeropuerto temprano.

Answer key

  1. parto — The yo present form of partir is parto.
  2. partió — The el preterite form of partir is partió.
  3. partirás — The tu future form of partir is partirás.
  4. partíamos — The nosotros imperfect form of partir is partíamos.
  5. I leave from Madrid at eight. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form parto, so the English is "I leave from Madrid at eight." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she left tomorrow morning. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form partió, so the English is "He/she left tomorrow morning." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will leave the bread in two halves. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form partiremos, so the English is "We will leave the bread in two halves." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo parto mañana por la mañana. — The correct sentence is "Yo parto mañana por la mañana." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él partió el pan en dos mitades. — The correct sentence is "Él partió el pan en dos mitades." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo parta hacia el aeropuerto temprano. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo parta hacia el aeropuerto temprano." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does partir mean, and when do I use it?

Partir means to leave, to depart. Partir means to leave or to depart, and it is used for leaving on a journey, a train departing and, with de, leaving a place. It also means to split or divide something, as in partir el pan, so the context tells you which sense is meant. It is a regular -ir verb. A good first sentence to remember is Yo parto de Madrid a las ocho. — "I leave from Madrid at eight."

What is the difference between partir and salir?

Partir means to leave, to depart, while salir means to go out or leave a place. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use partir when you mean to leave, to depart, as in Yo parto mañana por la mañana., and use salir for to go out or leave a place.

How do I say "I leave" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo partí mañana por la mañana.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo partía el pan en dos mitades.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he partido mañana por la mañana..

How do I practise partir?

Start with the partir conjugation page for the full tables, then the partir in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Partir is a regular -ir verb: partí, partía, partiré. Partir de Madrid means to leave Madrid; partir el pan means to break the bread.

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