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FRENCH VERB

descendre

to go down, to take down

  • #132 most used
  • Regular -re verb
  • Past participle: descendu
  • Present participle: descendant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I go down
  2. tu you go down
  3. il, elle, on he/she goes down
  4. nous we go down
  5. vous you go down
  6. ils, elles they go down

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I went down
  2. tu you went down
  3. il, elle, on he/she went down
  4. nous we went down
  5. vous you went down
  6. ils, elles they went down

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to go down
  2. tu you used to go down
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to go down
  4. nous we used to go down
  5. vous you used to go down
  6. ils, elles they used to go down

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will go down
  2. tu you will go down
  3. il, elle, on he/she will go down
  4. nous we will go down
  5. vous you will go down
  6. ils, elles they will go down

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would go down
  2. tu you would go down
  3. il, elle, on he/she would go down
  4. nous we would go down
  5. vous you would go down
  6. ils, elles they would go down

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I go down
  2. tu (that) you go down
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she go down
  4. nous (that) we go down
  5. vous (that) you go down
  6. ils, elles (that) they go down

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu go down!
  2. nous go down! (let’s)
  3. vous go down! (plural, or formal)

How to use descendre

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Je descends à la prochaine station.

    I'm getting off at the next stop.

  2. Past

    On est descendus voir la fête sur la place.

    We went down to see the party in the square.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle descendait les poubelles tous les soirs à vingt heures.

    She took the bins down every evening at eight.

  4. Future

    Je descendrai te chercher à la gare.

    I'll go down and get you at the station.

  5. Conditional

    Tu descendrais chercher le pain ?

    Would you go down and get the bread?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que vous descendiez au prochain arrêt.

    You need to get off at the next stop.

  7. Imperative

    Descends, le taxi est en bas !

    Come down, the taxi is downstairs!

Good to know

  • "Je suis descendu" to go down; with an object (descendre les poubelles) it takes avoir.

Where you hear descendre

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Je descends les poubelles. I'm taking the bins out.
  • J'ai descendu les poubelles ce matin. I took the bins out this morning.
  • Je vais descendre dans cinq minutes. I'm going to come down in five minutes.
9
How the Building Works

Beginner Level 2 · je descends

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By Bike

Beginner Level 2 · vous descendez

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Hugo Comes to Visit

Beginner Level 2 · on descend

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -re verb.