Sair Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

sair — to go out — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ir verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to go out and to leave a place, and it is completely regular: saio, sais, sai, saímos, saís, saem. Its pretérito perfeito is saí, saíste, saiu, saímos, saístes, saíram — note the accent on the eu and tu forms. On this page you will find sair in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the sair conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the sair pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with sair

In the present tense

  • “Eu saio com a Maria todos os dias.” — “I go out with Maria”
  • “Tu sais com a Maria todos os dias.” — “You go out with Maria”
  • “Ele sai com a Maria todos os dias.” — “He goes out with Maria”
  • “Nós saímos com a Maria todos os dias.” — “We go out with Maria”
  • “Vós saís com a Maria todos os dias.” — “You go out with Maria”
  • “Eles saem com a Maria todos os dias.” — “They go out with Maria”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu saí com a Maria ontem.” — “I went out with Maria”
  • “Tu saíste com a Maria ontem.” — “You went out with Maria”
  • “Ele saiu com a Maria ontem.” — “He went out with Maria”
  • “Nós saímos com a Maria ontem.” — “We went out with Maria”
  • “Vós saístes com a Maria ontem.” — “You went out with Maria”
  • “Eles saíram com a Maria ontem.” — “They went out with Maria”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu saía com a Maria antigamente.” — “I used to go out with Maria”
  • “Tu sairás com a Maria amanhã.” — “You will go out with Maria”
  • “Ele sairia com a Maria um dia.” — “He would go out with Maria”
  • “É importante que nós saiamos com a Maria.” — “It is important that we go out with Maria”
  • “Sai com a Maria!” — “Go out with Maria!”

How sair is used

The first thing to know about sair is its core meaning: to go out. It means to go out and to leave a place, and it is completely regular: saio, sais, sai, saímos, saís, saem. Its pretérito perfeito is saí, saíste, saiu, saímos, saístes, saíram — note the accent on the eu and tu forms. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company sair keeps. The present eu form is saio, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho saído, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what sair does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need saio, never sair. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho saído, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle saído is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Sair in context

Eu saio com a Maria todos os dias. Tu sais com a Maria todos os dias. Ele sai com a Maria todos os dias. Nós saímos com a Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of sair is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — saio, sais, sai, saímos — while the meaning stays the same: to go out. Eu saí com a Maria ontem. Tu saíste com a Maria ontem. Ele saiu com a Maria ontem. Nós saímos com a Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of sair appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to go out — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu sair com a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu saio com a Maria todos os dias.”

The infinitive sair never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form saio.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu sais com a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu saio com a Maria todos os dias.”

sais is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is saio — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu saio com a Maria ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu saí com a Maria ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito saí here, not the present saio.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou saído com a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho saído com a Maria esta semana.”

sair takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho saído — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on sair across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of sair in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) saio
    • B) sais
    • C) sai
    • D) saímos

  2. What is the eu form of sair in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens saído
    • B) tem saído
    • C) tenho saído
    • D) temos saído

  3. What is the ele/ela form of sair in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) saías
    • B) saíamos
    • C) saíeis
    • D) saía

  4. What is the nós form of sair in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) sairemos
    • B) sairei
    • C) sairás
    • D) sairá

  5. What is the tu form of sair in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) sairia
    • B) sairias
    • C) sairíamos
    • D) sairíeis

  6. What is the eu form of sair in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) saíras
    • B) saíramos
    • C) saíra
    • D) saíreis

  7. What is the nós form of sair in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) saia
    • B) saias
    • C) saiais
    • D) saiamos

  8. What is the gerund of sair?

    • A) saindo
    • B) saído
    • C) sair
    • D) saio

  9. What is the past participle of sair?

    • A) saindo
    • B) saído
    • C) sair
    • D) saio

  10. What does sair mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to go out
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) sais — the correct form is sais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho saído — the correct form is tenho saído. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) saía — the correct form is saía. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) sairemos — the correct form is sairemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) sairias — the correct form is sairias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) saíra — the correct form is saíra. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) saiamos — the correct form is saiamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) saindo — the correct form is saindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) saído — the correct form is saído. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to go out — the correct form is to go out. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does sair mean in English?

sair means “to go out”. You use it whenever you talk about to go out in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is sair regular or irregular?

sair is regular. sair is regular: every form follows the standard -ir endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of sair?

The gerund is saindo and the past participle is saído. The perfect tenses use ter + saído.

Where can I see the full conjugation of sair?

On the sair conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The sair pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for sair, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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