salir Imperfect Conjugation
salir — to leave
The imperfect of salir is regular: salía, salías, salía, salíamos, salíais, salían.
salir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe habitual departures in the past ('I used to go out') or to set the scene ('I was leaving when...').
Notes on salir in the Imperfect
Salir is completely regular in the imperfect. All -ir verbs in this tense use the -ía endings with an accent on the 'i'.
Example Sentences
Cuando era joven, salía todos los fines de semana.
When I was young, I used to go out every weekend.
yo
Nosotros salíamos de la escuela a las tres.
We used to leave school at three.
nosotros
Ellas salían del cine cuando empezó a llover.
They were leaving the cinema when it started to rain.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: salia (without accent).
Correct: salía.
Why: The accent on the 'i' is mandatory in the imperfect to maintain the correct rhythm and meaning.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: salgo
The present of salir is irregular only in the 'yo' form: salgo.
Preterite
yo: salí
The preterite of salir is regular: salí, saliste, salió, salimos, salisteis, salieron.
Future
yo: saldré
The future of salir uses the irregular stem 'saldr-': saldré, saldrás, saldrá...
Conditional
yo: saldría
The conditional of salir uses the irregular stem 'saldr-': saldría, saldrías, saldría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: salga
The present subjunctive of salir uses the 'salg-' stem: salga, salgas, salga...
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: saliera
The imperfect subjunctive of salir uses the 'salier-' stem: saliera, salieras, saliera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sal
The affirmative command for salir has a very short 'tú' form: sal.
Negative Imperative
yo: no salgas
The negative imperative of salir always uses the 'salg-' stem: no salgas, no salga...