In Spanish salir and irse both relate to leaving but salir focuses on going out from a place and irse emphasizes departing or leaving for good. This guide shows when to use each with clear examples.

Salir

Salir means to go out from somewhere, often to do an activity like meeting friends or going to a venue. It highlights the movement out of a place and is commonly used for temporary outings.

Examples

Usages

Use salir when you describe leaving a place to go out for an event, socializing, or an errand. It can also appear in expressions like salir de casa to emphasize exiting a physical location.

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Salir significa irse de algún lugar, a menudo para realizar alguna actividad, como reunirse con amigos o ir a un lugar específico. Resalta el movimiento hacia afuera de un sitio y se usa comúnmente para salidas temporales.

Irse

Irse means to leave or depart from a place, often with more intention or finality than salir. It stresses that someone is going away and can imply leaving for good or for a long time.

Examples

Usages

Use irse when you want to highlight that someone is leaving rather than just going out. It fits contexts like leaving a gathering, quitting a job, or moving away. Irse is often followed by de and a place.

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Irse significa partir o ausentarse de un lugar, a menudo con mayor intención o con una connotación de finalización que salir. Enfatiza que alguien está yendo se lejos y puede implicar dejar algo de manera definitiva o durante un período prolongado.

Key Differences

Salir focuses on going out from a place, usually for an activity, while irse highlights leaving or departing more broadly. Think salir as exiting to go out and irse as leaving to go away.

Examples

Nuances

In some cases both verbs work but change the nuance: salir sounds like going out to do something and irse means leaving altogether. Context and small preposition changes signal the difference.

Summary

Use salir for going out from a place to do an activity and irse for leaving or departing more definitively. Remember salir focuses on exiting to go out and irse on leaving to go away. Short example sentences help internalize the difference.

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