French grammar · Intermediate
Dormir, Partir, Sortir: Conjugating the -ir Verbs That Lose a Consonant
Dormir, partir and sortir belong to a family of -ir verbs that drop the last consonant of the stem in the singular: je dors, je pars, je sors, but nous dormons, nous partons, nous sortons. They take no -iss- in the plural, and partir and sortir form the passé composé with être.
Le samedi je sors, mais hier soir j'ai dormi douze heures.
On Saturdays I go out, but last night I slept for twelve hours.
What it is
These three verbs look like finir but behave nothing like it. Their stem ends in a consonant that survives in the plural and disappears in the singular, so dormir gives dor- for je, tu and il but dorm- for nous, vous and ils. Once you hear that pattern, the whole family follows.
je dors / nous dormons, je pars / nous partons, je sors / nous sortons. — I sleep / we sleep, I leave / we leave, I go out / we go out.
How to spot it
Take the infinitive, remove -ir, and you have the plural stem. Remove its final consonant as well and you have the singular stem.
- Je dors mal en ce moment. — I'm sleeping badly at the moment.
- Nous partons à midi. — We're leaving at noon.
- Elle sort tous les soirs. — She goes out every evening.
- Ils dorment encore. — They're still asleep.
The singular forms are all pronounced the same: dors, dors and dort are indistinguishable in speech, and only the subject pronoun tells you which one you are hearing.
Dormir Partir Sortir Quick Reference
The pattern, and the other verbs that share it
| Verb | Singular stem | Plural stem | Passé composé |
|---|---|---|---|
| dormir (to sleep) | dor- | dorm- | j'ai dormi |
| partir (to leave) | par- | part- | je suis parti(e) |
| sortir (to go out) | sor- | sort- | je suis sorti(e) |
| sentir (to smell, feel) | sen- | sent- | j'ai senti |
| mentir (to lie) | men- | ment- | j'ai menti |
| servir (to serve) | ser- | serv- | j'ai servi |
| se sentir (to feel) | sen- | sent- | je me suis senti(e) |
Common Dormir Partir Sortir Examples in French
The three verbs in ordinary use:
Dormir
- Tu dors debout.
- You're asleep on your feet.
- Les enfants dorment déjà.
- The children are asleep already.
- J'ai mal dormi cette nuit.
- I slept badly last night.
- On dormira dans la voiture.
- We'll sleep in the car.
Dormir describes the state of sleeping. For going to bed, French uses se coucher, and for falling asleep, s'endormir.
Partir
- Je pars demain matin.
- I'm leaving tomorrow morning.
- Le train part dans cinq minutes.
- The train leaves in five minutes.
- Ils sont partis sans nous.
- They left without us.
- Elle est partie en vacances.
- She's gone on holiday.
Partir is intransitive: you leave, but you cannot partir a place. Where the destination is named, it takes pour or à.
Sortir
- On sort ce soir ?
- Shall we go out tonight?
- Je sors du bureau à dix-huit heures.
- I leave the office at six.
- Nous sommes sortis très tard.
- We went out very late.
- Il sort avec ma cousine.
- He's going out with my cousin.
Sortir avec quelqu'un means to be in a relationship, exactly like the English going out with.
The Rest of the Family
- Ça sent bon dans la cuisine.
- It smells good in the kitchen.
- Je me sens beaucoup mieux.
- I feel a lot better.
- Tu mens très mal.
- You're a terrible liar.
- On sert le dîner à vingt heures.
- Dinner is served at eight.
Sentir, mentir and servir take the same endings and the same disappearing consonant, and all three use avoir in the passé composé.
How This Family Is Built
One stem rule, one set of endings, and one question about the auxiliary that splits the family in two.
The Singular Drops the Final Consonant
The stem of dormir is dorm-, and the m falls away in the singular because French does not tolerate it before the endings -s, -s and -t. What is left is dor-, giving dors, dors, dort.
Je dors, tu dors, il dort ; nous dormons.
I sleep, you sleep, he sleeps; we sleep.
Singular loses the consonant, plural keeps it.
No -iss- in the Plural
This is what separates the family from finir. Regular -ir verbs insert -iss- in the plural (nous finissons), while these verbs simply add the endings to the full stem: nous dormons, vous partez.
Nous sortons souvent le week-end.
We go out often at the weekend.
nous dormons, not *nous dormissons.
The Endings Are the -re Verb Endings
Despite the -ir infinitive, the present endings are -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent, the same set as vendre. Only the stem behaves unusually.
Elle sent une odeur de brûlé.
She can smell something burning.
-s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent.
Partir and Sortir Take Être
Both describe movement in or out of a place, so they join the small group of verbs that form compound tenses with être, and the past participle agrees with the subject.
Mes sœurs sont parties très tôt.
My sisters left very early.
je suis parti(e), je suis sorti(e).
Dormir, Sentir, Mentir and Servir Take Avoir
These describe an activity rather than a change of place, so they use avoir and their participle does not agree with the subject: elle a dormi, not *elle est dormie.
Elle a dormi pendant tout le trajet.
She slept for the whole journey.
Movement → être, activity → avoir.
Common Mistakes with Dormir Partir Sortir
Incorrect: Nous dormissons huit heures par nuit. — We sleep eight hours a night.
Correct: Nous dormons huit heures par nuit. — We sleep eight hours a night.
The -iss- belongs to finir and its group. This family adds the endings straight onto the stem, giving dormons, partons, sortons.
Incorrect: J'ai parti à sept heures. — I left at seven.
Correct: Je suis parti à sept heures. — I left at seven.
Partir forms its compound tenses with être, and the participle then agrees with the subject: je suis partie for a woman.
Incorrect: Elle a sorti hier soir avec ses amies. — She went out last night with her friends.
Correct: Elle est sortie hier soir avec ses amies. — She went out last night with her friends.
Avoir is only correct when sortir has a direct object. Here nothing is being taken out, so the auxiliary is être and the participle agrees: sortie.
Incorrect: Je pars la maison à huit heures. — I leave the house at eight.
Correct: Je quitte la maison à huit heures. — I leave the house at eight.
Partir never takes a direct object. Naming what you leave requires quitter, or partir de if you want to keep the same verb.
Dormir, Partir and Sortir Across the Tenses
The present is where the family is distinctive. In every other tense the stem is simply the infinitive minus -ir, or the infinitive itself, so the difficulty disappears.
Le présent
Singular forms use the shortened stem and are pronounced identically; plural forms restore the consonant.
| Pronoun | dormir | partir | sortir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | dors | pars | sors |
| tu | dors | pars | sors |
| il / elle / on | dort | part | sort |
| nous | dormons | partons | sortons |
| vous | dormez | partez | sortez |
| ils / elles | dorment | partent | sortent |
The plural forms are where the verbs become audible: dorment and dort sound quite different.
Le passé composé
All three participles are regular in -i. The split is in the auxiliary: dormir takes avoir, while partir and sortir take être and agree with the subject.
| Pronoun | dormir (avoir) | partir (être) | sortir (être) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai dormi | suis parti(e) | suis sorti(e) |
| tu | as dormi | es parti(e) | es sorti(e) |
| il / elle / on | a dormi | est parti(e) | est sorti(e) |
| nous | avons dormi | sommes parti(e)s | sommes sorti(e)s |
| vous | avez dormi | êtes parti(e)(s) | êtes sorti(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | ont dormi | sont parti(e)s | sont sorti(e)s |
Sortir switches to avoir when it has a direct object: j'ai sorti la voiture du garage.
L'imparfait
The imperfect is built on the nous form of the present with the consonant intact, so the singular-plural split vanishes completely.
| Pronoun | dormir | partir | sortir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | dormais | partais | sortais |
| tu | dormais | partais | sortais |
| il / elle / on | dormait | partait | sortait |
| nous | dormions | partions | sortions |
| vous | dormiez | partiez | sortiez |
| ils / elles | dormaient | partaient | sortaient |
Quand j'étais petit, je dormais chez ma grand-mère le samedi: the imperfect is the tense for habits like this.
Le futur simple
The future stem is the whole infinitive, with no irregularity at all, and takes the usual endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
| Pronoun | dormir | partir | sortir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | dormirai | partirai | sortirai |
| tu | dormiras | partiras | sortiras |
| il / elle / on | dormira | partira | sortira |
| nous | dormirons | partirons | sortirons |
| vous | dormirez | partirez | sortirez |
| ils / elles | dormiront | partiront | sortiront |
The conditional uses the same stem with the imperfect endings: je dormirais, je partirais, je sortirais.
Two Traps Beyond the Conjugation
Getting the forms right is only half the job. These verbs also have restrictions on what can follow them.
Sortir with avoir changes the meaning
Used intransitively, sortir means to go out and takes être. Given a direct object, it means to take something out and switches to avoir. Entrer, monter, descendre, passer and retourner behave the same way.
- Je suis sorti vers vingt heures.
- I went out around eight.
- J'ai sorti les poubelles.
- I took the bins out.
- Elle a sorti son passeport de son sac.
- She took her passport out of her bag.
- Nous sommes sortis par la porte de derrière.
- We went out by the back door.
The test is simple: if you can ask sortir quoi ?, the answer is a direct object and the auxiliary is avoir.
Partir cannot take a place as its object
You leave from somewhere with partir de, or for somewhere with partir pour or partir à. To leave a place or a person, French uses quitter, and to leave an object behind, laisser.
- Je pars de Lyon à huit heures.
- I leave Lyon at eight.
- Ils partent pour l'Italie demain.
- They're leaving for Italy tomorrow.
- Elle a quitté son travail.
- She left her job.
- J'ai laissé mon parapluie chez toi.
- I left my umbrella at your place.
Je pars la maison is not French. Quitter is the verb that takes a place or a person directly.
Sentir, se sentir and dormir in idiom
Sentir describes what something smells like; se sentir describes how a person feels. Dormir turns up in a handful of very common expressions.
- Ce fromage sent fort.
- This cheese smells strong.
- Je ne me sens pas bien.
- I don't feel well.
- Il dort comme un loir.
- He sleeps like a log.
- Je n'ai pas fermé l'œil.
- I didn't sleep a wink.
Sentir bon and sentir mauvais keep the adjective invariable: ça sent bon, never *ça sent bien.
Dormir Partir Sortir FAQs
- How do you conjugate sortir in the present tense?
- Je sors, tu sors, il sort, nous sortons, vous sortez, ils sortent. The t of the stem disappears in the singular and returns in the plural, and dormir and partir follow exactly the same pattern.
- Why is it nous dormons and not nous dormissons?
- Because dormir is not a regular -ir verb. Only the finir group inserts -iss- before the plural endings; dormir, partir, sortir, sentir, mentir and servir add the endings directly to the stem.
- Do partir and sortir use être or avoir?
- Être when they describe movement, with the participle agreeing: elle est partie, nous sommes sortis. Sortir switches to avoir when it takes a direct object: j'ai sorti la voiture. Dormir always takes avoir.
- What's the difference between partir, sortir and quitter?
- Partir is to set off, with no object: je pars demain. Sortir is to go out of an enclosed space or for the evening: je sors du bureau, on sort ce soir. Quitter needs an object: j'ai quitté Paris, elle a quitté son mari.
- Which other verbs follow this pattern?
- Sentir, se sentir, mentir, servir, se servir and their compounds such as repartir, ressortir and consentir. All of them lose the final stem consonant in the singular and keep it in the plural.