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:
| 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:
| 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.)
| 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:
| 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.)