Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for sortir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. ## Related pages - Full conjugation of sortir — every tense of sortir in one place. - Sortir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense. - Sortir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb. - Partir conjugation — another everyday French verb. - Jouer conjugation — another everyday French verb. - Connaître conjugation — another everyday French verb. - French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern. - French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages. - Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages. - VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists. - Perfect Tenses Builder — practise sortir with the interactive tool. - Tense Finder — practise sortir with the interactive tool. - Spanish Verb Quiz — practise sortir with the interactive tool.

Sortir in the Passé composé Tense in French

Q: How is the passé composé of sortir formed?

With the auxiliary *être* in the present plus the past participle *sorti*: je suis sorti, tu es sorti, il est sorti, nous sommes sorti, vous êtes sorti, ils sont sorti.

Introduction

Sortir means “to go out”, and this page covers exactly one thing: sortir in the passé composé. The passé composé is the tense French speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full passé composé table for sortir, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about sortir in the passé composé. For example: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have gone out with my friends this evening this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of sortir exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Sortir in the Passé composé Tense — full table

Person	Form
je	suis sorti
tu	es sorti
il/elle	est sorti
nous	sommes sorti
vous	êtes sorti
ils/elles	sont sorti

Gerund: sortant · Past participle: sorti

The gerund is sortant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is sorti, which you use with être in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is suis sorti, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passé composé is only one part of how sortir is used.

How the passé composé of sortir is formed

The passé composé of sortir is formed with the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle sorti: the auxiliary forms are je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the je form is suis sorti and the ils form is sont sorti. The participle sorti never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the masculine singular form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because sortir takes être as its auxiliary, it belongs to the group of verbs of movement and change of state that form their perfect tenses with être. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for être, not avoir, and then add sorti.

The same participle sorti appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “être + sorti” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of sortir.

When to use the passé composé of sortir

The passé composé is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use sortir in the passé composé most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Going out with my friends this evening — finished

When the action of going out with my friends this evening is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have gone out with my friends this evening this week.”

2. Going out from the house at eight o'clock — finished

The same rule applies to going out from the house at eight o'clock: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu es sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “You have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”

3. Going out in the evening in summer — finished

A third everyday situation is going out in the evening in summer, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il est sorti le soir en été cette semaine.” — “He has gone out in the evening in summer this week.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The passé composé is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain passé composé forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Nous sommes sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “We have gone out with my friends this evening this week.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The passé composé also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as hier, la semaine dernière or ce matin, the passé composé is the natural choice. Example: “Vous êtes sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “You have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”

Passé Composé vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passé composé is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action, while the passé composé describes one finished action. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passé composé sentences use words such as tous les jours or hier, while the imperfect sentences use autrefois or quand. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

Passé composé: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have gone out with my friends this evening this week.”
Imperfect: “Je sortais avec mes amis ce soir autrefois.” — “I used to go out with my friends this evening in the past.”
The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.
Passé composé: “Tu es sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “You have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”
Imperfect: “Tu sortais de la maison à huit heures autrefois.” — “You used to go out from the house at eight o'clock in the past.”
The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.
Passé composé: “Nous sommes sorti le soir en été cette semaine.” — “We have gone out in the evening in summer this week.”
Imperfect: “Nous sortions le soir en été autrefois.” — “We used to go out in the evening in summer in the past.”
The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: sortir in the passé composé

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

“Je suis sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”
“Tu es sorti le soir en été cette semaine.” — “You have gone out in the evening in summer this week.”
“Il est sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has gone out with my friends this evening this week.”
“Nous sommes sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “We have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”
“Vous êtes sorti le soir en été cette semaine.” — “You have gone out in the evening in summer this week.”
“Ils sont sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “They have gone out with my friends this evening this week.”
“Je suis sorti de la maison à huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have gone out from the house at eight o'clock this week.”
“Tu es sorti le soir en été cette semaine.” — “You have gone out in the evening in summer this week.”

Common mistakes with sortir in the passé composé

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

Wrong: “Je sors avec mes amis ce soir hier.” Right: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis sorti, not the present sors. The time word hier points to the past.
Wrong: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je sors avec mes amis ce soir tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé suis sorti describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present sors.
Wrong: “Je être avec mes amis ce soir.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary être and the participle sorti. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.
Wrong: “Je sortais avec mes amis ce soir hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir hier.” Why: The imperfect sortais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé suis sorti.

Quiz: sortir in the passé composé

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Je ______ de la maison à huit heures.”

(A) es sorti
(B) est sorti
(C) sommes sorti
(D) suis sorti

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ le soir en été.”

(A) suis sorti
(B) est sorti
(C) sommes sorti
(D) es sorti

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ avec mes amis ce soir.”

(A) suis sorti
(B) es sorti
(C) sommes sorti
(D) est sorti

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ de la maison à huit heures.”

(A) suis sorti
(B) es sorti
(C) est sorti
(D) sommes sorti

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ le soir en été.”

(A) est sorti
(B) êtes sorti
(C) suis sorti
(D) es sorti

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ avec mes amis ce soir.”

(A) suis sorti
(B) es sorti
(C) est sorti
(D) sont sorti

7. What does sortir mean in English?

(A) to leave
(B) to play
(C) to know (a person)
(D) to go out

8. What is the past participle of sortir?

(A) parti
(B) joué
(C) connu
(D) sorti

Answer key

D) suis sorti — The je form is suis sorti.
D) es sorti — The tu form is es sorti.
D) est sorti — The il/elle form is est sorti.
D) sommes sorti — The nous form is sommes sorti.
B) êtes sorti — The vous form is êtes sorti.
D) sont sorti — The ils/elles form is sont sorti.
D) to go out — sortir means “to go out”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
D) sorti — The past participle of sortir is sorti; the passé composé is formed with être + sorti.

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of sortir formed?

With the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle sorti: je suis sorti, tu es sorti, il est sorti, nous sommes sorti, vous êtes sorti, ils sont sorti.

When do I use the passé composé of sortir?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have gone out with my friends this evening this week.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the imperfect instead.

What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect of sortir?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “Je suis sorti avec mes amis ce soir cette semaine.” with “Je sortais avec mes amis ce soir autrefois.” — the first is finished, the second is ongoing in the past.

Pronunciation

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

Full conjugation of sortir — every tense of sortir in one place.
Sortir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
Sortir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
Partir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
Jouer conjugation — another everyday French verb.
Connaître conjugation — another everyday French verb.
French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
Perfect Tenses Builder — practise sortir with the interactive tool.
Tense Finder — practise sortir with the interactive tool.
Spanish Verb Quiz — practise sortir with the interactive tool.