French Phrase
Tu pars quand ?
Meaning
Literally ‘You leave when?’, this is the everyday way to ask a friend or a colleague about the time they are going to leave. It’s short, direct and carries a friendly tone.
When to use
Use it in informal, spoken contexts – with friends, classmates, coworkers you know well, or anyone you’d address with ‘tu’. It’s not appropriate in formal settings or when speaking to strangers you’d address with ‘vous’.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Tuparsquand?
Subject pronoun (Tu)
‘Tu’ is the informal second‑person singular pronoun used with friends, family, or peers.
Verb ‘partir’ (pars)
‘Partir’ means ‘to leave/go away’. In the present tense, the 2nd‑person singular form is ‘pars’ (no -e ending).
Interrogative adverb ‘quand’
‘Quand’ means ‘when’. In spoken French it can be placed at the end of a statement for a casual question.
Question without inversion
In informal speech French often drops the inversion (pars‑tu) and uses a rising intonation instead.
🗨In Conversation
Tu pars quand ?
When are you leaving?
Je pars à dix‑huit heures, après le cours.
I’m leaving at six p.m., after class.
✕Common Mistakes
Tu pars où ?
‘Où’ asks for a place, not a time. Use ‘quand’ for time.
Quand tu pars ?
Missing ‘est‑ce que’ or inversion makes the sentence sound incomplete in written French.
Tu pars quand
In informal speech the intonation rises, but in writing you still need the question mark.
↔Alternatives
À quelle heure pars‑tu ?
At what time are you leaving?
Quand est‑ce que tu pars ?
When is it that you’re leaving?
Tu vas partir quand ?
When are you going to leave?
Cultural Tip
French speakers love to keep the tone of a question light in casual conversation. ‘Tu pars quand ?’ is perfectly natural among peers, but in a more formal environment you’d switch to the inverted form ‘Quand partez‑vous ?’ or use ‘Quand est‑ce que vous partez ?’. Also, note that French rarely uses a question mark after a rising‑intonation phrase in writing; the punctuation is kept for clarity in learning material.