French grammar · Intermediate
Sortir with Avoir or Être: How the Auxiliary Changes the Meaning
Sortir takes être in the passé composé when nobody is being taken out: je suis sorti means I went out. As soon as sortir has a direct object it switches to avoir and means to take something out: j'ai sorti la voiture. The auxiliary is not a spelling choice, it tells you which of the two verbs you are reading.
Je suis sortie hier soir, mais j'ai sorti la poubelle ce matin.
I went out last night, but I took the bin out this morning.
What it is
French treats sortir as two verbs wearing the same coat. One is intransitive and describes the subject leaving a space, so it joins the small family of movement verbs that build the passé composé with être. The other is transitive, takes a direct object, and describes moving something else out, so it behaves like any ordinary verb and takes avoir.
Elle est sortie de la salle. — She left the room. / Elle a sorti son passeport. — She took out her passport.
How to spot it
Look immediately after the verb. If a noun follows that answers the question sorti what, you need avoir. If what follows is a preposition, an adverb, or nothing at all, you need être.
- Nous sommes sortis vers minuit. — We went out around midnight. (no object → être)
- Nous avons sorti les chaises. — We took the chairs out. (object → avoir)
- Il est sorti du bureau. — He left the office. (du bureau is not an object)
- Il a sorti un mouchoir de sa poche. — He took a handkerchief out of his pocket.
Sorti de something is still intransitive. De marks where you came from, not what you removed, so the auxiliary stays être.
Sortir with Avoir or Être Quick Reference
Which auxiliary sortir takes
| Sentence | Auxiliary | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je suis sorti. | être | I went out. |
| J'ai sorti les poubelles. | avoir | I took the bins out. |
| Elle est sortie de l'hôpital. | être | She left the hospital. |
| Elle a sorti sa carte. | avoir | She got her card out. |
| Ils sont sortis ensemble pendant deux ans. | être | They dated for two years. |
| Le groupe a sorti un album. | avoir | The band released an album. |
| Nous sommes sortis par la fenêtre. | être | We got out through the window. |
Common Sortir with Avoir or Être Examples in French
The same participle, two different verbs:
Going Out (être)
- Tu es sorti sans manteau ?
- Did you go out without a coat ?
- Elles sont sorties très tard.
- They went out very late.
- Le chat est sorti par la chatière.
- The cat went out through the cat flap.
- Je ne suis pas sorti de la semaine.
- I haven't been out all week.
The participle agrees with the subject here, exactly as it does with aller and partir.
Taking Something Out (avoir)
- J'ai sorti le gâteau du four.
- I took the cake out of the oven.
- Elle a sorti son téléphone pour prendre une photo.
- She got her phone out to take a photo.
- Ils ont sorti tous les cartons du grenier.
- They brought all the boxes down from the attic.
- Tu as sorti le chien ?
- Have you taken the dog out ?
The object can be a thing, an animal, or an idea, but there has to be one for avoir to be correct.
Figurative Uses
- Cette maison d'édition a sorti trois romans cette année.
- This publisher brought out three novels this year.
- Il a sorti une remarque idiote.
- He came out with a stupid remark.
- On est sortis de la crise.
- We've come out of the crisis.
- Elle s'en est sortie toute seule.
- She got through it on her own.
The figurative senses follow the same test: an object means avoir, no object means être.
The Two in One Sentence
- Il a sorti sa valise, puis il est sorti.
- He got his suitcase out, then he left.
- Nous sommes sortis après avoir sorti les chaises du jardin.
- We went out after taking the chairs in from the garden.
- Elle est sortie et elle a sorti son parapluie.
- She went out and got her umbrella out.
- Quand ils sont sortis, ils avaient sorti tous les dossiers.
- When they left, they had taken out all the files.
Hearing both in one breath is the fastest way to internalise the split.
How the Two Sortirs Behave
One test decides the auxiliary, and the auxiliary then decides how the participle is spelled.
A Direct Object Forces Avoir
Ask sorti quoi. If the sentence answers, you have a transitive verb, and every transitive verb in French takes avoir. Sortir has no special privilege once it has an object.
J'ai sorti les documents.
I got the documents out.
Object present → avoir.
No Object Means Être and Subject Agreement
Without an object, sortir joins the movement verbs and takes être, so the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: sorti, sortie, sortis, sorties.
Mes cousines sont sorties ensemble.
My cousins went out together.
être → agree with the subject.
A Prepositional Phrase Is Not an Object
Sortir de la maison, sortir du travail, sortir par la porte all keep être. De and par introduce a starting point or a route, and neither answers sorti quoi.
Elle est sortie du magasin les mains vides.
She came out of the shop empty-handed.
de, par, à → still être.
With Avoir, Agreement Follows the Object Only if It Comes First
The avoir rule applies normally: the participle agrees only with a direct object placed before the verb, typically a pronoun or a relative clause.
Les chaises ? Je les ai sorties.
The chairs ? I took them out.
Object before the verb → agreement.
The Other Tenses Inherit the Choice
Every compound tense uses the same auxiliary, so once you have decided for the passé composé you have decided for the plus-que-parfait, the futur antérieur, and the conditionnel passé too.
Il était sorti avant que j'aie sorti la voiture.
He had left before I got the car out.
Choose once, applies everywhere.
Common Mistakes with Sortir with Avoir or Être
Incorrect: Je suis sorti la poubelle. — I took the bin out.
Correct: J'ai sorti la poubelle. — I took the bin out.
La poubelle is a direct object, which makes this the transitive verb, and transitive verbs take avoir. Learners who have memorised sortir as an être verb apply the rule without checking for an object.
Incorrect: Elle a sorti de la maison. — She left the house.
Correct: Elle est sortie de la maison. — She left the house.
De la maison looks like an object in English, where leave takes one directly, but in French it is a prepositional phrase. Nothing is being taken out, so the auxiliary is être and the participle agrees.
Incorrect: Les chaises, je les ai sorti. — The chairs, I took them out.
Correct: Les chaises, je les ai sorties. — The chairs, I took them out.
With avoir the participle agrees when the direct object comes before the verb. Les stands for les chaises, so sorties needs the feminine plural ending.
Incorrect: Nous avons sortis hier soir. — We went out last night.
Correct: Nous sommes sortis hier soir. — We went out last night.
Two errors reinforcing each other: the wrong auxiliary, and an agreement that only être would justify. If you find yourself adding -s after avoir with nothing in front, the auxiliary is probably wrong.
Sortir Conjugated Both Ways
The simple tenses are identical for both meanings, because the split only appears once an auxiliary is involved. Compare the two right-hand columns to see where they diverge.
Simple Tenses (identical for both meanings)
Sortir follows the dormir and partir pattern: the singular drops the -t- of the stem, the plural keeps it.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur simple |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | sors | sortais | sortirai |
| tu | sors | sortais | sortiras |
| il / elle / on | sort | sortait | sortira |
| nous | sortons | sortions | sortirons |
| vous | sortez | sortiez | sortirez |
| ils / elles | sortent | sortaient | sortiront |
Je sors is one syllable and sounds nothing like nous sortons, which trips up learners reading the two forms as unrelated.
Passé Composé, Both Auxiliaries
On the left, sortir alone with être and full subject agreement. On the right, sortir with an object and avoir, where the participle stays flat.
| Pronoun | être — to go out | avoir — to take out (les poubelles) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis sorti(e) | ai sorti les poubelles |
| tu | es sorti(e) | as sorti les poubelles |
| il / elle / on | est sorti(e) | a sorti les poubelles |
| nous | sommes sorti(e)s | avons sorti les poubelles |
| vous | êtes sorti(e)(s) | avez sorti les poubelles |
| ils / elles | sont sorti(e)s | ont sorti les poubelles |
In the right-hand column the object follows the verb, so nothing agrees. Move it in front and you get je les ai sorties.
Plus-que-parfait, Both Auxiliaries
The pattern repeats in every compound tense. The auxiliary goes into the imparfait and the participle behaves exactly as it did before.
| Pronoun | être — had gone out | avoir — had taken out |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | étais sorti(e) | avais sorti la voiture |
| tu | étais sorti(e) | avais sorti la voiture |
| il / elle / on | était sorti(e) | avait sorti la voiture |
| nous | étions sorti(e)s | avions sorti la voiture |
| vous | étiez sorti(e)(s) | aviez sorti la voiture |
| ils / elles | étaient sorti(e)s | avaient sorti la voiture |
Elles étaient sorties carries -es; elles avaient sorti la voiture carries nothing.
The Other Verbs That Switch Auxiliaries
Sortir is not alone. Five other movement verbs do exactly the same thing, and knowing the group saves you learning the rule six times.
Monter and descendre
Intransitive, they mean to go up and to go down and take être. With an object they mean to carry something up or down and take avoir.
- Elle est montée au premier étage.
- She went up to the first floor.
- Elle a monté les valises.
- She carried the suitcases up.
- Nous sommes descendus à la cave.
- We went down to the cellar.
- Nous avons descendu les bouteilles.
- We took the bottles down.
Monter un escalier is a genuine object, so j'ai monté l'escalier is correct even though it feels like movement.
Rentrer, retourner, passer
The same split, with the transitive meanings being to bring in, to turn over, and to hand over or spend.
- Je suis rentré à minuit.
- I got home at midnight.
- J'ai rentré la voiture au garage.
- I put the car in the garage.
- Elle a retourné la crêpe.
- She flipped the pancake.
- Nous avons passé trois jours à Nantes.
- We spent three days in Nantes.
Passer is the most slippery of the group, because passer trois jours takes avoir while passer devant la gare takes être.
Se sortir and s'en sortir
Made pronominal, sortir means to get oneself out of a situation. Pronominal verbs always take être, whatever the base verb does.
- Il s'en est bien sorti.
- He came through it well.
- Elle s'est sortie d'une situation difficile.
- She got herself out of a difficult situation.
- On s'en sortira.
- We'll manage.
With s'en sortir the participle agrees with the subject: elle s'en est sortie, ils s'en sont sortis.
Sortir with Avoir or Être FAQs
- Is sortir conjugated with être or avoir?
- Both, depending on whether it has a direct object. Je suis sorti means I went out and takes être; j'ai sorti les clés means I got the keys out and takes avoir. Check for an object before you choose.
- Why is it elle est sortie but elle a sorti?
- Because être makes the participle agree with the subject, so elle picks up an -e. With avoir the participle only agrees with a direct object placed before the verb, and in elle a sorti son sac the object comes after, so nothing is added.
- Does sortir de la maison take avoir because of the object?
- No, de la maison is not a direct object. It answers where from, not what, so the verb is still intransitive: elle est sortie de la maison. The same goes for sortir du travail and sortir de l'hôpital.
- Which other French verbs change auxiliary like this?
- Monter, descendre, rentrer, retourner, and passer, and to a lesser extent demeurer. Ils sont montés means they went up, while ils ont monté les cartons means they carried the boxes up.
- How do I say a band released an album in French?
- Use sortir with avoir, because the album is the object: le groupe a sorti un album. If you want to say the album came out, drop the object and switch auxiliary: l'album est sorti en mars.