Salir Preterite Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The preterite of salir — to leave — is the form you need for finished actions in the past. Salir means to leave and to go out: salir de casa, salir con amigos. It is a go-verb (salgo) with the future stem saldr- and the regular preterite salí. Salir de is to leave a place, salir con is to go out with someone, and salir bien means to turn out well. This page gives you the complete preterite table for salir, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “Ayer yo salí temprano de la oficina.” — “Yesterday I left the office early”.

Preterite conjugation of salir

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for salir. Salir is an irregular -ir verb (irregular in present, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative), so watch out for the forms that break the pattern — they are the ones learners need to memorise.

Preterite indicative — salir

Person Form
yo salí
tú saliste
él/ella/Ud. salió
nosotros/as salimos
vosotros/as salisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. salieron

The gerund of salir is saliendo and the past participle is salido. The participle matters here because the preterite is often confused with the perfect tenses — keep them apart.

How the preterite of salir is formed

The preterite of salir does not follow the regular pattern. If salir were regular, the preterite forms would be yo → salí, tú → saliste, él/ella/Ud. → salió, nosotros/as → salimos, vosotros/as → salisteis, ellos/ellas/Uds. → salieron — but salir breaks the pattern in this tense: the forms are salí, saliste, salió, salimos, salisteis and salieron.

In the preterite, salir is mostly regular: the first person is the expected salí, and the endings attach to the stem sal- in the usual way. The irregularity shows elsewhere in the verb — the participle or another tense is irregular — so the forms to memorise are the ones that break away, especially the third persons salió and salieron.

A note on spelling: the written accents in this tense are part of the form, not decoration. In the preterite, salí, salió carries an accent, and leaving it out changes the pronunciation and, in writing, marks the form as wrong. Copy the forms from the table above exactly, accents included.

When to use the preterite of salir

1. Completed actions at a specific time

Use the preterite for an action that started and finished in the past. For example, with salir: “Ayer yo salí temprano de la oficina.” — “Yesterday I left the office early”. Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

2. A sequence of actions

Use the preterite to list one finished action after another. For example, with salir: “Ella salió a correr por el parque.” — “She went out running in the park”. Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

3. Actions that interrupt an ongoing situation

Use the preterite for the action that breaks into a longer background scene. For example, with salir: “Nosotros salimos a bailar el sábado.” — “We went out dancing on Saturday”. Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

4. Sudden changes and achievements

Use the preterite for a change of state or something achieved at one moment. For example, with salir: “Ellos salieron del cine a medianoche.” — “They left the cinema at midnight”. Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

Preterite vs imperfect: salir finished, salir in progress

The preterite and the imperfect are the two past tenses, and choosing between them is the hardest decision in Spanish past-tense grammar. The preterite is for what happened and finished; the imperfect is for what was happening, what used to happen, and the background. Compare the pairs below — the preterite form comes from this page, the imperfect form from the full conjugation table.

  • Preterite tense: “Ayer yo salí de casa.” — “Yesterday I left of the house.”

  • Imperfect: “De niño, yo salía de casa.” — “As a child, I used to leave of the house.”

  • Preterite tense: “Ella salió de casa a las ocho.” — “She left of the house at eight.”

  • Imperfect: “Ella salía de casa cada día.” — “She used to leave of the house every day.”

  • Preterite tense: “Nosotros salimos de casa el sábado.” — “We left of the house on Saturday.”

  • Imperfect: “Nosotros salíamos de casa todos los sábados.” — “We used to leave of the house every Saturday.”

Example sentences: salir in the preterite

Six sentences using only the preterite of salir, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “Ayer yo salí temprano de la oficina.” — “Yesterday I left the office early.”
  • “Ella salió a correr por el parque.” — “She went out running in the park.”
  • “Nosotros salimos a bailar el sábado.” — “We went out dancing on Saturday.”
  • “Ellos salieron del cine a medianoche.” — “They left the cinema at midnight.”
  • “¿Tú saliste ayer por la noche?” — “Did you go out last night?”
  • “El sol salió a las siete.” — “The sun came out at seven.”

Common mistakes with salir in the preterite

Mistake 1

Wrong: Yo salo de casa.

Right: Yo salí de casa.

The yo form is salgo — salir is a go-verb, not salo.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Salir a casa — wrong preposition.

Right: Yo salí de casa.

Leaving a place is salir de; salir a is to go out to do something.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Leaving out the accent: writing the form without its written accent.

Right: Copy the accented form exactly: salí.

In the preterite the accents are part of the spelling — salí without its accent is a spelling mistake.

Quiz: salir in the preterite

Eight questions on the preterite of salir. Answers with explanations follow each question.

1. What is the yo form of salir in the preterite?

  • A) salí
  • B) saliste
  • C) salió
  • D) salimos

Answer: A — The yo form in the preterite is salí.

2. What is the tú form of salir in the preterite?

  • A) salí
  • B) salió
  • C) salimos
  • D) saliste

Answer: D — The tú form in the preterite is saliste.

3. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of salir in the preterite?

  • A) saliste
  • B) salimos
  • C) salió
  • D) salí

Answer: C — The él/ella/Ud. form in the preterite is salió.

4. What is the nosotros/as form of salir in the preterite?

  • A) salió
  • B) salimos
  • C) salí
  • D) saliste

Answer: B — The nosotros/as form in the preterite is salimos.

5. Fill in the blank: “Ayer yo ___ temprano de la oficina.” (Yesterday I left the office early.)

  • A) salí
  • B) saliste
  • C) salió
  • D) salimos

Answer: A — The sentence needs salí.

6. Fill in the blank: “Ella ___ a correr por el parque.” (She went out running in the park.)

  • A) salí
  • B) saliste
  • C) salimos
  • D) salió

Answer: D — The sentence needs salió.

7. Which sentence is correct?

  • A) Yo salo de casa.
  • B) Yo salí de casa.

Answer: B — The yo form is salgo — salir is a go-verb, not salo.

8. Which sentence is correct?

  • A) Yo salí de casa.
  • B) Salir a casa — wrong preposition.

Answer: A — Leaving a place is salir de; salir a is to go out to do something.

Frequently asked questions

Is salir regular in the preterite?

No. salir is irregular in the preterite: the forms are salí, saliste, salió, salimos, salisteis and salieron. There is no rule that produces them from the infinitive, so they have to be learnt as a set — the quiz above is a good place to start.

What is the yo form of salir in the preterite?

It is salí. The yo form is the one learners use most and the one that most often breaks the pattern — for salir it is the form to learn first, before the rest of the table.

When do I use the preterite of salir instead of the present?

Use the preterite when the action is finished and tied to a specific moment — yesterday, last week, at eight o’clock. If the action was ongoing, habitual, or just background to another event, the imperfect is the right choice, not the preterite.

How can I remember the preterite forms of salir?

Say the six forms aloud in order — salí, saliste, salió, salimos, salisteis, salieron — three times a day for a week, always in a sentence, never as a bare list. Then use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test yourself, and the full conjugation page for salir to see the verb in every tense.

Say it yourself

Reading is not enough — say the verb aloud before you move on. Use the forms from the tables on this page and answer these three prompts as full sentences. First, say a sentence about yourself in the present tense: “Yo salgo…”. Second, say a sentence about yesterday in the preterite: “Ayer yo salí…”. Third, say a sentence about tomorrow in the future: “Mañana yo saldré…”. If you can answer all three without looking at the tables, the forms are starting to stick. If you hesitate, go back to the examples above, read them aloud twice, and try again. Speaking the forms is what turns a table you have seen into a verb you can use.

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