I have to leave at seven o'clock

Question

I was meeting a friend the other night. I couldn't stay as late as originally planned, so I told her "Tengo que irse a la siete.". I used "irse" as "leaving" as opposed to "ir" as in "to go to a particular place" (as I've seen described here). She corrected me as said it should be "tengo que irme." ????

I did a search here for other "tengo que..." questions. Most of the posts seem to point to "tengo que ir." I am very confused...just when I thought I had a concept down...?!?

What is the proper phrase? Ayúdame por favor.

Gracias.

Answer 1

I told her "Tengo que irse a la siete."

She was correct. You must conjugate the "irse" to match the person that is doing the action. In this case it was you, so it should be:

"Tengo que irme a las siete."

"Paco tiene que irse a las cinco:"

"Laura, ¿tienes que irte a las cuatro?"

You're right about "irse" being used when you have no real destination or it's not really important. However, if you have a specific place to go, you'd say:

"Tengo que ir a la tienda."

Answer 2

Tengo que marcharme a las siete

Tengo que irme a las siete

"Irme" (as Marianne says) is better than "ir" when you have no destination or it is unimportant.

Therefore, "marcharme" or "irme". However, "marcharme" is still more explanatory in this situation because you leave the other person.