‘Ir’ vs. ‘irse’: What’s the difference?

Ir vs. irse… This is one of those topics that can cause confusion among beginners when they start learning Spanish. To put it simply, ir is ‘to go’, while irse describes moving away from something or somewhere, that is, ‘to leave’. .They both use the root “ir”, but it’s the reflexive verb form “ir-se” (to go oneself) that puts emphasis on the subject going or leaving the location.

We now know they don’t mean the same thing, but they are closely related. Despite sharing a common root, ir and irse do have very distinct purposes.

As we explore these differences, you’ll discover why knowing how to use both verbs correctly is crucial for achieving fluency in Spanish. So, let’s dive in and learn the distinction between ir vs. irse and how they’re conjugated in the simple tenses. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to use them correctly in basic conversation!

• What’s the difference between ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?
• How do we use ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?
• How do we conjugate ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?

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What’s the difference between ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?

Ir and irse both refer to the idea of movement. They are both forms of the root “to go”,  but we can easily notice that each verb has its own meaning, uses and rules.

Before we discover these nuances, here’s a key rule of thumb you can use to differentiate them:

• Ir (‘to go’ in English) focuses on the destination of the subject. It doesn’t use reflexive pronouns.
• Irse (‘to leave’ in English) emphasizes that the subject is leaving their current location. In other words, it highlights the act instead of the destination. Additionally, and unlike ir, irse does utilize reflexive pronouns.

We would like to mention that these two verbs are generally reserved for informal communication. You’ll commonly find them in casual conversations, text messages and informal emails.

How do we use ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?

Alright, so we now know the key difference between ir and irse and what their equivalent in English would be… but how do we actually use them? Glad you asked! Here’s a quick guide:

‘Ir’

Ir (to go) is an irregular and intransitive verb we use when:

• We want to refer to a destination. More specifically, we use it when the subject is moving from one place to another. In this case, it’s common to use prepositions such as a, al and hacia, which all mean ‘to’ or ‘towards’. Here’s an example:

Marina va a tu casa
Marina goes your house

• We want to refer to a mode of transport and we have an implied or unknown destination. We use prepositions such as en, which means ‘on’ or ‘by’:
  

Voy en avión
I’m going by plane

• Talking about the future (this would be similar to the structure ‘going to’ in English). For this, we use the following formula: ir conjugated in present tense + a + verb in infinitive. Example:

Sally va a llamar después
Sally is going to call later

‘Irse’

As mentioned, irse (to leave) utilizes reflexive pronouns and stresses the act of ‘leaving’. Irse often uses prepositions like de or desde,both meaning ‘from’. Here’s an example:

Hay mucho trabajo y me iré de la oficina tarde
There’s a lot of work and I’ll leave the office late

Note: some may get confused between irse and salir, since they can both be translated into English as ‘to leave’. To differentiate them, it’s best to think of salir as ‘to get out’ or ‘to exit’. While irse can be used even if we don’t know the place the subject is leaving or going to, salir is used when we want to talk about getting out or stepping out of a specific place or situation. Take a look at these examples:

Carlos salió de su carro (Carlos got out of his car)

Julián al fin salió de esa relación tóxica (Julian finally got out of that toxic relationship)

How do we conjugate ‘ir’ and ‘irse’?

‘Ir’ conjugated in simple tense

Below we have a table for how ir is conjugated in the simple present tense:

Pronoun	Simple present	English translation
yo (I)	voy	I go
tú (you)	vas	you go
él/ella (he/she)	va	he/she goes
usted (formal you)	va	you go
nosotros/as (we)	vamos	we go
ellos/ellas (they)	van	they go
ustedes (plural you)	van	you go

In simple past:

Pronoun	Simple present	English translation
yo (I)	fui	I went
tú (you)	fuiste	you went
él/ella (he/she)	fue	he/she went
usted (formal you)	fue	you went
nosotros/as (we)	fuimos	we went
ellos/ellas (they)	fueron	they went
ustedes (plural you)	fueron	you went

In simple future:

Pronoun	Simple present	English translation
yo (I)	iré	I will go
tú (you)	irás	you will go
él/ella (he/she)	irá	he/she will go
usted (formal you)	irá	you will go
nosotros/as (we)	iremos	we will go
ellos/ellas (they)	irán	they will go
ustedes (plural you)	irán	you will go

Want to take a look at some practical examples of ir?

• Sandra y Laura van a España cada verano.
  Sandra and Laura go to Spain every Summer.
• Nosotras siempre vamos en el carro de Sofía.
  We always go with Sofía’s car.
• Este tren va a Boston.
  This train goes to Boston.
• Daniel y Sara fueron al concierto de Taylor Swift.
  Daniel and Sara went to the Taylor Swift show.
• Ellas irán al cine.
  They will go to the cinema.

‘Irse’ conjugated in simple tense

Irse requires the usage of reflexive pronouns. Here’s the simple present tense conjugation for this verb:

Reflexive Pronoun	Simple present	English translation
me (I)	voy	I leave
te (you)	vas	you leave
se (he/she)	va	he/she leaves
se (formal you)	va	you leave
nos (we)	vamos	we leave
se (they)	van	they leave
se (plural you)	van	you leave

As you can see, the conjugation of the verb is the same as with ir, but the verb is preceded by the reflexive pronoun. This is the case as well for the simple future and past tenses (me fui, se fueron, nos iremos…).

Up for some examples?

• Me voy de la ciudad el jueves.
  I’m leaving the city on Thursday.
• Mi hermana y Raúl se van a Acapulco.
  My sister and Raúl are leaving for Acapulco.
• Nosotras nos vamos antes de que se haga tarde.
  We are leaving before it’s late.
• Mis primos se irán de vacaciones.
  My cousins are leaving on holiday.
• ¿Ya te fuiste de la fiesta?
  Did you leave the party already?

‘Ir’ and ‘irse’ + gerund

It’s common to find these two verbs followed by a gerund to indicate that an action is/was in progress or is about to begin. To do this, we use the conjugated form of ir or irse + the gerund of the main verb (–ando or –endo).

Native speakers usually employ this form with simple tenses. Let’s take a look at some examples:

Tense	Example (ir/irse + gerund)	English translation
present simple	Me voy acostumbrando a este clima. Voy corriendo al súper.	I’m getting used to this weather. I’m running to the supermarket.
past simple	Me fui acostumbrando a este clima. Fui corriendo al súper.	I got used to this weather (with time). I ran to the supermarket.
future simple	Me iré acostumbrando a este clima. Iré corriendo al súper.	I’ll get used to this weather (with time). I’ll run to the supermarket.

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Let’s get going

So we now know the main differences between ir vs. irse and we know how they’re conjugated in the simple tenses. We’re sure this will be a great addition to your toolbox and that you’ll be using them in casual conversations in no time! Let’s get going and start practicing!

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