Spanish For Dummies
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Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like salir, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).

In the present tense, salir (sah-leer) (to go out/leave) has an irregular yo form, but otherwise it conjugates like a regular -ir verb. Here’s the present tense conjugation:

The Present Tense of Salir
Conjugation Translation
yo salgo I go out
tú sales You (informal) go out
él/ella/ello/uno sale He/she/one goes out
usted sale You (formal) go out
nosotros salimos We go out
vosotros salís You all (informal) go out
ellos/ellas salen They go out
ustedes salen You all (formal) go out

The following examples show you salir in action:

  • ¿Salen ustedes a caminar? (Are you going out to walk?)

  • Si. Salimos a caminar ahora. (Yes. We are going out to walk now.)

Salir conjugates normally in the preterit and imperfect tenses. Take a look at the following tables and examples:

The Preterit Tense of Salir
Conjugation Translation
yo salí I went out
tú saliste You (informal) went out
él/ella/ello/uno salió He/she/one went out
usted salió You (formal) went out
nosotros salimos We went out
vosotros salisteis You all (informal) went out
ellos/ellas salieron They went out
ustedes salieron You all (formal) went out

You use the preterit tense like this:

  • Ellos salieron anteayer. (They left the day before yesterday.)

  • Yo salí de mi casa el martes. (I left my house on Tuesday.)

The Imperfect Tense of Salir
Conjugation Translation
yo salía I used to go out
tú salías You (informal) used to go out
él/ella/ello/uno salía He/she/one used to go out
usted salía You (formal) used to go out
nosotros salíamos We used to go out
vosotros salíais You all (informal) used to go out
ellos/ellas salían They used to go out
ustedes salían You all (formal) used to go out

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

  • ¿Salían ustedes a caminar? (Did you use to go out for a walk?)

  • Sí. Salíamos a caminar todos los días. (Yes. We used to go out for a walk every day.)

Salir has an irregular stem (saldr-) in the future tense, but it does use the normal future endings:

The Future Tense of Salir
Conjugation Translation
yo saldré I will go out
tú saldrás You (informal) will go out
él/ella/ello/uno saldrá He/she/one will go out
usted saldrá You (formal) will go out
nosotros saldremos We will go out
vosotros saldréis You all (informal) will go out
ellos/ellas saldrán They will go out
ustedes saldrán You all (formal) will go out

The following samples put the future tense to work:

  • Nosotros saldremos temprano mañana. (We will leave early tomorrow.)

  • María saldrá a visitar a sus amigas. (María will go visit her friends.)

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