Laisser v. quitter

Max K.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Laisser v. quitter

I am puzzled that the correct way of expressing leaving work uses laisser rather than quitter, both of which require direct objects. Where travail is the direct object, why is "J'ai quitté le travail" marked incorrect in the quiz and "J'ai laissé le travail" marked correct? I do not dispute that "J'ai laissé le travail" is correct, but the lesson on partir, quitter, laisser, etc. is unclear. This is especially true if "travail" is considered a place and quitter is used for leaving places, which to me at least seems plausible. I have not yet taken this up with my French coterie.

Asked 3 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Max,

I have checked the kwiz questions and the only one referring to ‘le travail’ only accepts the verb quitter which is correct.

So if this is not the case you need to use the Report it button on your correction board to let us know as there may be a bug.

Bonne Continuation!

Laisser v. quitter

I am puzzled that the correct way of expressing leaving work uses laisser rather than quitter, both of which require direct objects. Where travail is the direct object, why is "J'ai quitté le travail" marked incorrect in the quiz and "J'ai laissé le travail" marked correct? I do not dispute that "J'ai laissé le travail" is correct, but the lesson on partir, quitter, laisser, etc. is unclear. This is especially true if "travail" is considered a place and quitter is used for leaving places, which to me at least seems plausible. I have not yet taken this up with my French coterie.

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