sortent

Sortent is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb sortir, meaning to go out or to exit. It is used with iles or elles to indicate that a group leaves a place, such as a building or a venue, in the present tense. The base verb sortir is irregular in the present tense; its full present-tense paradigm is: je sors, tu sors, il sort, nous sortons, vous sortez, ils sortent. Therefore, sortent occurs only with a plural third-person subject.

Usage examples illustrate its sense: Ils sortent du musée maintenant. Quand sortent-ils ? Elles sortent ensemble ce soir. In spoken French, the final -ent of sortent is not pronounced, so the word sounds like [sɔʁ].

Etymology and classification: Sortir belongs to the French verb system within the Romance languages. Its exact Latin origin is a matter of etymological discussion, but it is generally traced through Old French to forms that denote leaving or departing.

Variants and related terms: The noun sortie means an act of going out or an exit, derived from the same root. The present participle form is sortant, used to describe ongoing action, as in “en sortant” (while going out).

See also: Sortie; sortir (verb).