Why Spanish says “me voy”: ir and irse
Voy, or me voy: going somewhere, or leaving
Ir means to go, and its focus is where you are going: Ha ido al médico, he has gone to the doctor. Irse means to leave, and its focus is the place you are going away from: Él se fue sin decir adiós, he left without saying goodbye.
So voy is “I go” and me voy is “I’m off” or “I’m leaving”. The little me changes the meaning.
ir
to go: towards somewhere
- The focus is the destination
- Usually says where: a, al
Ha ido al médico.He has gone to the doctor.
irse
to leave: away from somewhere
- The focus is the departure
- Often with no destination at all
Se ha ido.He has left.
On this page
Ir: going somewhere
Use ir when the sentence is about where someone is going.
- Fui al cine con unos amigos el sábado.I went to the cinema with friends on Saturday.
- Ha ido al médico.He has gone to the doctor.
Irse: leaving
Use irse when the sentence is about someone leaving where they are. Often there is no destination at all.
- Él se fue sin decir adiós.He left without saying goodbye.
- Él se ha ido sin despedirse.He has left without saying goodbye.
- Ella se iba siempre sin avisar.She always used to leave without warning.
- Él se está yendo sin decir nada.He is leaving without saying a word.
The one thing to remember
Ask what the sentence is about: where someone is heading (ir), or the moment they go away (irse)?
What are the forms of irse?
Irse uses the forms of ir, with a little pronoun in front of the verb, like any reflexive verb. In a positive command or after another verb, the pronoun can join the end instead, as in irse itself; the reflexive verbs guide shows where it goes.
| Person | Present | Preterite |
|---|---|---|
| yo | me voy | me fui |
| tú | te vas | te fuiste |
| él / ella | se va | se fue |
| nosotros | nos vamos | nos fuimos |
| vosotros | os vais | os fuisteis |
| ellos / ellas | se van | se fueron |
Usted takes the él / ella form and ustedes the ellos / ellas form; vosotros is used in Spain.
The Preterite fui is also the Preterite of ser, so bare fui can mean “I went” or “I was”. With the pronoun, me fui can only mean “I left”.
The trap: se va a acostar
Not every se va is irse. In Ella se va a acostar pronto porque tiene que madrugar, she is going to go to bed early because she has an early start, the se belongs to acostarse, to go to bed, and va a is the near future. Compare Él se va a ir a vivir al extranjero el año que viene, he is going to go and live abroad next year, where the se belongs to irse: the verb after va a is ir.
The test: look at the verb after a. If it is ir, the sentence is about leaving. If it is another verb, the se belongs to that verb.
How nemiria teaches this
Irse is in nemiria’s Reflexive: Irregular verb group, with ponerse, and every tense in its table carries a note on its forms. The Present Perfect card sets ha ido and se ha ido side by side.
How should you practise ir and irse?
Learn me voy as a phrase. It is how you say you are off, and you will hear it every day.
Listen for the focus. A place after a or al usually means ir, though irse can name where you are off to as well. No destination at all usually means irse.
Read next
Irse is in nemiria’s Reflexive: Irregular verb group, with every tense in its table. Get it on the App Store.