[laepelba]

Originally Posted by Perikles

That is because to leave can be transitive, but salir is intransitive.

I left my wallet in a taxi (transitive, you can't use salir)
I left my wife (transitive)
I was fed up so I left (intransitive - you could use salir)

Interesting that you point that out. I had a very interesting conversation the other day with some Spanish speaking students (new to speaking English - the same ones who had the "front of the room/back of the room" confusion). They were trying to explain to me when they use the word "salir" and when they use the word "dejar". Of course, then we started talking about the use of the word "leave" in English, and the one gal was TOTALLY confused about the phrase "leave me alone". I found the whole thing quite interesting!