What is "irme"?

Question

"Tengo que irme ahora." What is "irme"? Why not just use the verb "ir"?

Answer 1

Hi Joygogo ,

first of all, mucho gusto.

Ir is the verb "to go", irme comes from the verb irse which is a reflexive verb and means, like Rickharned already wrote, "to leave". When you use Tengo que it is equal to "I have to". After Tener que (which is the entire verb, to have to) you often see the whole verb and the pronoun attached to it. ir + me (me = me, te = you, se = formal) gives irme which could be said like: To go myself, which is not perfect english but it is a way to remember this. When you go yourself, you leave. Therefore, Tengo que irme ahora is translated as "I have to leave now".

I hope to be of any assistance

Mucha suerte Aran

Thank you very much! It's very clear! - joygogo, Feb 15, 2013

de nada - Aranjuez12, Feb 15, 2013

Answer 2

"Irse" - the reflexive form of the verb "Ir", to go - means "to leave." The "me" is the first person pronoun, so the sentence means "I have to leave now."