# Descendre Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Go Down”

> **Descendre** means “to go down”. Présent: **je descends, tu descends, il descend, nous descendons, vous descendez, ils descendent** — a regular *-re* verb. Its past takes **être** when you go down (*je suis descendu*) and **avoir** when you take something down (*j’ai descendu les valises*).

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Updated: 2026-09-16

## Présent — the regular -re pattern

Stem descend-, endings -s, -s, —, -ons, -ez, -ent. The sc is pronounced as a plain s — “day-SAHN” — and the first e is usually swallowed.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je descends | I go down |
| tu descends | you go down |
| il / elle descend | he / she goes down |
| nous descendons | we go down |
| vous descendez | you go down |
| ils / elles descendent | they go down |

## Être or avoir? — the same test

Is something being taken down? If yes, avoir and no agreement; if no, être and agreement.

| French | Helper | Means |
|---|---|---|
| je suis descendu | être | I went down |
| elle est descendue | être | she went down |
| j’ai descendu les valises | avoir | I took the cases down |
| il a descendu l’escalier | avoir | he came down the stairs |

**⚠ The stairs count as an object** — Descendre l’escalier treats the staircase as a direct object, so it takes avoir: elle a descendu l’escalier. But elle est descendue par l’escalier — with par — takes être, because the staircase is now a route rather than an object. Same for monter.

**The group** — Monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer, retourner — one test, six verbs.

## Getting off, and other uses

Descendre covers more ground than “go down”, and one of its uses you will need on day one of any trip:

- descendre du train — to get off the train. (You montez dans it and descendez de it.)
- je descends à la prochaine — I’m getting off at the next stop.
- descendre à l’hôtel — to stay at a hotel.
- descendre en ville — to go into town.
- les prix ont descendu — prices came down.

**On a bus, this is the phrase** — Vous descendez ? — “are you getting off?” — is what somebody behind you asks when they want to move past to the doors. The answer is oui or non, allez-y.

## Passé composé

The table shows the être version, which is the commoner one. Swap in avoir and drop the agreement when there is a direct object.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je suis descendu(e) | I went down / have gone down |
| tu es descendu(e) | you went down / have gone down |
| il / elle est descendu(e) | he / she went down / have gone down |
| nous sommes descendu(e)s | we went down / have gone down |
| vous êtes descendu(e)(s) | you went down / have gone down |
| ils / elles sont descendu(e)s | they went down / have gone down |

## Imparfait — was going down

Je descendais, from the nous stem.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je descendais | I used to go down / was going down |
| tu descendais | you used to go down / was going down |
| il / elle descendait | he / she used to go down / was going down |
| nous descendions | we used to go down / was going down |
| vous descendiez | you used to go down / was going down |
| ils / elles descendaient | they used to go down / was going down |

## Futur and conditionnel

Drop the final e: je descendrai.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je descendrai | I will go down |
| tu descendras | you will go down |
| il / elle descendra | he / she will go down |
| nous descendrons | we will go down |
| vous descendrez | you will go down |
| ils / elles descendront | they will go down |

## Conditionnel — would go down

Je descendrais.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je descendrais | I would go down |
| tu descendrais | you would go down |
| il / elle descendrait | he / she would go down |
| nous descendrions | we would go down |
| vous descendriez | you would go down |
| ils / elles descendraient | they would go down |

## Subjonctif — regular

From the plural stem, unchanged.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je descende | (that) I go down |
| tu descendes | (that) you go down |
| il / elle descende | (that) he / she go down |
| nous descendions | (that) we go down |
| vous descendiez | (that) you go down |
| ils / elles descendent | (that) they go down |

## Impératif — come down

Descends ! keeping its s. Descendez ici — “get off here”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| descends ! | go down! (to one person you know) |
| descendons ! | let’s go down! |
| descendez ! | go down! (formal, or to a group) |

## Plus-que-parfait — had gone down

J’étais descendu — or j’avais descendu with an object.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’étais descendu(e) | I had gone down |
| tu étais descendu(e) | you had gone down |
| il / elle était descendu(e) | he / she had gone down |
| nous étions descendu(e)s | we had gone down |
| vous étiez descendu(e)(s) | you had gone down |
| ils / elles étaient descendu(e)s | they had gone down |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate descendre in the present tense?

Je descends, tu descends, il / elle descend, nous descendons, vous descendez, ils / elles descendent.

### Does descendre take être or avoir?

Both. With no direct object it takes être and agrees — elle est descendue. With one it takes avoir — elle a descendu les valises.

### How do you say “get off the train” in French?

Descendre du train. Getting on is monter dans le train.

### Is it elle est descendue or elle a descendu l’escalier?

Both are right, for different sentences. Elle est descendue — she went down. Elle a descendu l’escalier — the staircase is a direct object, so the helper switches and the agreement goes.

### What is the past participle of descendre?

Descendu — agreeing after être, invariable after avoir.

## Related guides

- Monter conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/monter-conjugation
- Sortir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/sortir-conjugation
- Vendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/vendre-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides