Ir vs. irse
How it works
Sometimes, when we take a verb and make it reflexive, the meaning completely changes. Something similar happens in English when we add certain prepositions to certain verbs: to look, for example, is different from to look after.
A very distinct case in Spanish would be the following:
ir - to go
irse - to leave
We use them with these prepositions:
ir a
irse de
In Spanish, we cannot leave a place, we have to leave "from" a place.
In the present tense:
Yo voy a la fiesta. I go to the party.
Yo me voy de la fiesta. I leave ("from") the party.
In the preterite tense:
Yo fui a una fiesta ayer a las cinco. I went to a party yesterday at five.
Yo me fui de la fiesta ayer a las ocho. I left ("from") the party yesterday at eight.
Conversación
Amanda: Irene, ¿a qué hora llegaste a tu trabajo ayer?
Irene: Llegué a mi trabajo a las nueve de la mañana.
A: ¿A qué hora te fuiste de tu trabajo?
I: Me fui de mi trabajo a las seis de la tarde.
