French: partir and sortir

Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions the irregular verbs partir and sortir in present indicative.

The following is according to my understanding.

It’s been decades since I first learned about partir and sortir. I’ve always known they’re irregular; today I thought about why.

Both partir (to leave) and sortir (to go out) follow the same pattern. Taking partir, it’s je/tu pars, il/elle part, nous partons, vous partez, ils/elles partent. What might be a surprise is the switch from -s to -t between je/tu and il/elle. Sortir works the same.

By the ending, one would have to classify partir and sortir are -ir verbs. French -ir verbs are interesting: it seems to me some sources don’t acknowledge a regular -ir verb model, while others suggest finir (to finish) is the model for a regular -ir verb.

The present indicative conjugation of finir is je/tu finis, il/elle finit, nous finissons, vous finissez, ils/elles finissent. Does that seem regular? (You be the judge:) Anyway, if it is, then one can perceive that partir and sortir are irregular.

Interesting, eh?

Source:

Kenney, M., Burville, V., Hickox, B., Hill, J., and Potter, C. (1977). Passeport Français 8: Bonne Chance! D.C. Heath Canada Ltd.

Dubois, M-M, Keen, D.J., Shuey, B., Corbeil, J-C., Crocker, L.G. (1983). Larousse’s French-English Dictionary. Pocket Books New York.