Gap-fill
Partir or quitter? Complete a French departure story
Practise partir de, partir pour and quitter with a direct object. Follow a departure from the office to the station, with a gap-fill and translations.
- A2
- 5 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Partir means to leave or set off: je pars, je pars de Lyon, je pars pour Lille. Quitter takes what you leave directly: je quitte le bureau. For an object you leave behind, use laisser: je laisse mon sac ici.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
What is the difference between partir and quitter?
| Focus | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Departure | Je pars à dix-huit heures. | I’m leaving at six. |
| Starting point | Je pars du bureau. | I’m leaving from the office. |
| Destination | Je pars pour Lille. | I’m leaving for Lille. |
| Place left | Je quitte le bureau. | I’m leaving the office. |
| Object left behind | Je laisse mon sac au bureau. | I’m leaving my bag at the office. |
Du bureau is de + le bureau. With quitter, the place follows directly: quitter le bureau, quitter la ville, quitter l’hôtel. Both verbs can describe an ordinary departure at the end of the day.
Places and things in the story
Find:
| Verb | Example | Auxiliary |
|---|---|---|
| partir | Léa est partie. | être |
| quitter | Léa a quitté le bureau. | avoir |
| laisser | Léa a laissé son sac. | avoir |
Partie agrees with Léa. The past participles in elle a quitté le bureau and elle a laissé son sac stay in the forms shown here. Learn each complete sentence with its auxiliary.
Leaving the building or leaving the job?
Elle a quitté le bureau à six heures, mais elle a quitté son emploi en juin.
She left the office at six, but she left her job in June.
Quitter son emploi describes leaving a job. Quitter son partenaire can mean ending a relationship. The object gives the meaning: leaving an office for the evening says something different from leaving a job.
Léa leaves for the weekend
Fill each gap with the word or past form requested. The story keeps the starting point, destination and bag separate.
Un départ pour Lille
Vendredi, Léa quitte (le / du / pour le) bureau à dix-huit heures. Elle part (pour / de) Lille avec une amie. Mais, devant la gare, elle s’arrête : son sac est resté au bureau !
Elle appelle son collègue : « J’ai (laisser, past participle) mon sac sous ma table. Tu peux le garder ? » Il accepte. Léa rejoint son amie sur le quai.
À dix-neuf heures, le train démarre. Léa envoie un message : « Je suis (partir, past participle; Léa is speaking) à l’heure. Merci pour le sac ! » Son amie ajoute : « Moi, j’ai (quitter, past participle) la maison à seize heures ! »
Read it in English
On Friday, Léa leaves the office at six. She is leaving for Lille with a friend. But outside the station, she stops: her bag is still at the office!
She calls her colleague: “I left my bag under my desk. Can you keep it?” He agrees. Léa joins her friend on the platform.
At seven, the train starts moving. Léa sends a message: “I left on time. Thanks for looking after the bag!” Her friend adds: “I left home at four!”