Partir, quitter, laisser : Several ways to say that you’re leaving in French

What is the difference between partir, laisser and quitter?

When you intend to leave a place, tell someone that you must go, or end a relationship, choosing the right verb is important. In this article, we will look at three useful French verbs: partir, laisser, and quitter. Depending on the context, these verbs carry other meanings in addition to “leaving.“ In fact, they can change in a very different way! What they have in common is that they are frequently used by the French. Therefore, we encourage you to learn and understand their varied meanings. And don’t forget the exercise at the end of the article! 

Partir

The main meaning of partir is to leave a place. 

Examples:

─Nous partons maintenant, merci pour tout ! = We’re leaving now, thank you for everything!

─Nous devons partir maintenant, c’est l’heure. = We must leave now, it’s time.

─Nous sommes partis avant la fin, la fête était trop longue ! = We left before the end, the party was too long!

─Nous partons de la Gare du Nord à 10h demain. = We’re leaving from the North Train Station at 10:00 am tomorrow.

Another meaning of partir is “to depart.”

Example:

─Le train pour Paris part à 18 heures. = The train for Paris departs at 8:00 pm.

Other meanings of partir:

 To choose, to decide: When you’re hesitating in choosing something, you will hear the French use partir to express “I went with…, I chose…”:

─J’ai hésité avant d’acheter ma voiture, mais finalement je suis parti pour une hybride. = I hesitated before buying my car, but finally I chose a hybrid.

• To disappear:

─Les taches partent facilement sur cette nappe. = The stains disappear easily on this tablecloth.

• To die, to pass away: In this context, you will hear the French use partir or quitter:

─L’enterrement de Marc était très triste. Il est parti trop tôt ! = Marc’s burial was very sad. He died too early/too young!

(We discuss more in detail the verb quitter below):

─L’enterrement de Marc était très triste. Il nous a quittés trop tôt !

Common expressions with partir (widely used by the French):

• C’est parti ! = Let’s go!, There you go!, We/you’re off! It’s time! This is it!
• C’est bien parti. = It’s a good start. It’s looking good, etc.
• Partir de rien. = To start out with nothing.
• Partir d’une bonne intention. = To mean well.
• Partir du principe que… = To work on the assumption that…

The verb repartir means: to set off again, but if you say C’est reparti ! It can be translated by “Here we go again!”

But the most amusing and interesting use is: Partir pour rester, which expresses the contrary. It means: “to intend to stay,” “to be ready to stay,” “to feel like staying”…

─J’aime trop Paris, je suis parti pour y rester ! = I like Paris so much, I feel like staying

Quitter

This verb also means to leave but also to interrupt a conversation, to quit a job. Quite often, it suggests a separation. And it also means to take off clothes, or shoes.

Examples:

─Désolée, je dois te quitter, j’ai un autre appel ! = Sorry, I have to hang up, I have another call!

─J’ai quitté mon bureau plus tôt ce soir. = I left my office earlier this evening. Partir could also have been used, but you’d have to add “de“: Je suis parti de mon bureau plus tôt ce soir.

─Quand je quitterai enfin ce travail, je serai très soulagé. = When I finally quit this job, I’ll be very relieved.

─Ma femme m’a quitté du jour au lendemain. = My wife left me just like that.

─Quitte tes bottes, tu salis le sol ! = Take off your boots, you’re dirtying the floor!

Common expressions with quitter:

• Ne pas quitter des yeux. = To not take your eyes off, a child for example.
• Quitter la route. = To drive off the road.
• Ne pas quitter quelqu’un d’une semelle. = To stick to somebody like glue.

And all the French know by heart the famous song by Jacques Brel: Ne me quitte pas !

Note on the sentence construction with partir and quitter:
With partir, you can use it to leave from somewhere and in this case, you will need the preposition de:

─Je pars de la gare. = I’m leaving from the train station.

With quitter, when you’re leaving a place, you never need to add the preposition de:

─Je quitte Paris maintenant. = I’m leaving Paris now.

Laisser

Laisser, another verb meaning to leave, is mostly used when a person has to suddenly stop whatever they’re doing because they have to be somewhere else. You will often hear the French say: Il faut que je te laisse car je dois… = I have to leave you because I have to…

Laisser has a lighter feel than quitter, it is more widely used. If you communicate with a person often, using laisser is the norm.

Laisser also has 3 different other meanings:

• To let someone do something.
• To leave things as they are.
• To leave something somewhere.

Examples:

─Bon, je te laisse, je suis en retard. = OK, I’m off, I’m late.

─Je te laisse finir le rapport ? Je n’ai pas le temps ! = Can I leave you to finish the report? I don’t have time!

─Cet étudiant laisse beaucoup de fautes dans ses devoirs. = This student leaves many mistakes in his homework.

─Laisse-moi faire la tarte aux fraises, c’est ma spécialité ! = Let me do the strawberry pie, it’s my specialty!

─Tu as encore laissé la porte ouverte ? = You left the door open again?

─On laisse combien pour le pourboire au Québec ? = How much do you leave for tips in Québec?

And, just like with partir ou quitter, laisser can be used when you separate from the person you love:

─C’est fini entre nous, je te laisse/je pars/je te quitte… as you will see in the scenario below.

Usual expressions with laisser:

• Laisser tomber. = To give up an activity or a job, to dump someone, to drop a thing. It is often used in the expression: Laisse tomber ! = Forget it!
• Ne pas laisser indifférent. = To be impossible to be indifferent (to something, an event, etc.).
• Ne pas se laisser abattre. = To keep one’s spirits up.

Se tirer, se casser… and other slang verbs

You may very often hear French people use other verbs, familiar but not impolite, when they want to say that they are leaving: se tirer, se faire la malle, lever l’ancre…

But the most popular, and less polite, is se casser. It became very well-known after is was used by President Sarkozy when he was visiting the Salon de l’Agriculture. A rather aggressive man was giving him a hard time, and he told him: Casse-toi, pauvre con ! = Get lost, you stupid jerk!… 😊

Annick Stevenson and Céline Van Loan
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Exercice

Copy / paste this exercise in a Word file.
Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate verb (partir, quitter or laisser), and conjugate them as needed:

1. Tu penses _______________ du travail à quelle heure ce soir ?
2. Moi j’espère _______________ le travail à 18 heures si je peux !
3. Est-ce qu’il m’a _______________ des devoirs à faire ?
4. Il ne faut jamais _______________ un enfant des yeux !
5. Je dois vous _______________ (2 possibilities), je suis désolé, mais j’ai un train à prendre !
6. Votre avion _______________ depuis quel aéroport ?
7. Mon chien est _______________, vous ne l’avez pas vu ?
8. Tu devrais _______________ ton vélo au garage, il va pleuvoir.
9. Je voulais acheter un PC mais finalement je suis _______________ pour un Mac.
10. Ils ont _______________ les livres sur le sol, ils ne les ont pas rangés dans la bibliothèque !
11. Ne vous inquiétez pas, la tache que vous avez faite sur la nappe va vite _______________.
12. Tu peux _______________ tomber, il n’y a plus rien faire.
13. J’ai bien l’impression que ton fils est bien _______________ pour rester en France !
14. Tu dois déjà _______________ ? _______________ ton sac, je te l’apporte plus tard ! Je vais _______________ la séance dans moins de 3 heures.

Exercise solution:

1. partir — 2. quitter — 3. laissé — 4. quitter — 5. quitter/laisser — 6. part — 7. parti — 8. laisser — 9. parti —10. laissé — 11. partir. — 12. laisser — 13. parti —14. partir; laisse; quitter