"Tengo que ir" o "Tengo que irme"?

Question

What is the difference? I have always said "tengo que irme", but I didnt know if that was correct. Is it? I first started saying "tengo que ir" but someone told me that was wrong.

Hey Kat, take care! - pmikan-pam, Apr 20, 2012

Hey Pam! You too! :) - 00cdfbd9, Apr 20, 2012

Answer 1

My understanding is that ir means to go and irse, the reflexive version, means to leave. So if you have to go to the store, you would use ir. If you have to leave, you'd use irse.

Well, I guess this is actually already answered here, http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/116091/ir-vs-irse. Glad I got it right

Thanks, Joshua! :) - 00cdfbd9, Apr 20, 2012

This is a great explanation. As you can tell, there is only a small difference between the two, but when you make it a command, it makes a bigger difference. ¨¡Ve!¨ the tú command for ¨ir¨ is just ¨Go¨. However, ¨¡Véte!¨ is ¨Leave!¨ - slkey, Apr 21, 2012

Answer 2

I believe this would be the difference in saying in English "I have to leave" vs. "I have to go". "Tengo que ir" seems to be an open statement, as in " I have to go...where", while tengo que irme is more defined.

Thanks, Noetol! :) - 00cdfbd9, Apr 20, 2012

De nada, Kat :)) - Noetol, Apr 20, 2012