Descendre Present Tense Conjugation in French

The present tense of descendre — “to go down” — is the form you need for habits, facts and what is happening now. This page gives you the complete present tense table for descendre, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.”

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for descendre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Present Tense conjugation of descendre

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for descendre. descendre is a regular -re verb, so you can build the present tense from the regular endings once you know the stem.

Present indicative — descendre

Person Form
je descends
tu descends
il/elle descend
nous descendons
vous descendez
ils/elles descendent

The gerund of descendre is en descendant and the past participle is descendu. You need the participle for the perfect tenses and the gerund for constructions with en.

How the present tense of descendre is formed

For a regular -re verb, the present tense is built on the stem descend- (the infinitive descendre without its -re ending) plus the present tense endings: je → descends, tu → descends, il/elle → descend, nous → descendons, vous → descendez, ils/elles → descendent. So descendre gives descends, descends, descend, descendons, descendez, descendent.

When to use the present tense of descendre

1. Habits and routines

Use the present tense for habits and routines. For example, with descendre: “Je descends les escaliers lentement tous les jours.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.” Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

2. General truths and facts

Use the present tense for general truths and facts. For example, with descendre: “Tu descends les escaliers lentement en général.” — “You go down the stairs slowly.” Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

3. What is happening right now

Use the present tense for what is happening right now. For example, with descendre: “Il descend les escaliers lentement maintenant.” — “He goes down the stairs slowly.” Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

4. Scheduled plans and the near future

Use the present tense for scheduled plans and the near future. For example, with descendre: “Nous descendons les escaliers lentement demain.” — “We go down the stairs slowly.” Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

5. Narration and instructions

Use the present tense for narration and instructions. For example, with descendre: “Ils descendent les escaliers lentement souvent.” — “They go down the stairs slowly.” Notice how the time expression and the context, not just the verb form, tell you which rule applies.

Present vs future: descendre now, descendre later

The present and the future both talk about things that have not happened yet in one sense, but they are not interchangeable. The present is for what is true now or already fixed; the future is for what will happen and is not yet certain. Compare the pairs below — the present form comes from this page, the future form from the full conjugation table.

  • Present Tense: “Je descends les escaliers lentement tous les jours.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.”

  • Future: “Je descendrai les escaliers lentement demain.” — “I will go down the stairs slowly tomorrow.”

  • Present Tense: “Tu descends les escaliers lentement maintenant.” — “You go down the stairs slowly.”

  • Future: “Tu descendras les escaliers lentement demain.” — “You will go down the stairs slowly tomorrow.”

  • Present Tense: “Nous descendons les escaliers lentement en classe.” — “We go down the stairs slowly.”

  • Future: “Nous descendrons les escaliers lentement demain.” — “We will go down the stairs slowly tomorrow.”

Example sentences: descendre in the present tense

Six sentences using only the present tense of descendre, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “Je descends les escaliers lentement tous les jours.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.”
  • “Tu descends les escaliers lentement chaque matin.” — “You go down the stairs slowly.”
  • “Il descend les escaliers lentement souvent.” — “He goes down the stairs slowly.”
  • “Nous descendons les escaliers lentement maintenant.” — “We go down the stairs slowly.”
  • “Vous descendez les escaliers lentement en général.” — “You go down the stairs slowly.”
  • “Ils descendent les escaliers lentement le week-end.” — “They go down the stairs slowly.”

Common mistakes with descendre in the present tense

Mistake 1: Using the infinitive instead of the present

Wrong: “Je descendre les escaliers lentement.”

Right: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.”

The infinitive never takes a subject; use the conjugated form descends.

Mistake 2: Mixing up the persons

Wrong: “Tu descends les escaliers lentement.”

Right: “Tu descends les escaliers lentement.”

After tu you need descends, not the je form descends. Each person has its own ending.

Mistake 3: Using the future for a habit

Wrong: “Je descendrai les escaliers lentement.” (for something you do every day)

Right: “Je descends les escaliers lentement tous les jours.”

A habit takes the present, not the future. The future (descendrai) is for what will happen.

Mistake 4: Using the passé composé for a habit

Wrong: “Je suis descendu les escaliers lentement tous les jours.” (for a daily habit)

Right: “Je descends les escaliers lentement tous les jours.”

A daily habit takes the present. The passé composé is for finished events.

Quiz: descendre in the present tense

  1. What is the je form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descendent
    • B) descendons
    • C) descends
    • D) descendez

  2. What is the tu form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descends
    • B) descendons
    • C) descendent
    • D) descend

  3. What is the il/elle form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descends
    • B) descendent
    • C) descend
    • D) descendez

  4. What is the nous form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descend
    • B) descendons
    • C) descendent
    • D) descends

  5. What is the vous form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descends
    • B) descendons
    • C) descendez
    • D) descendent

  6. What is the ils/elles form of descendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) descend
    • B) descendent
    • C) descends
    • D) descendez

  7. What is the gerund of descendre?

    • A) en descendant
    • B) descends
    • C) descendrai
    • D) descendu

  8. What does descendre mean in English?

    • A) to be
    • B) to go down
    • C) to go
    • D) to have

Answer key

  1. C) descends — the je form of descendre in the present indicative is descends.
  2. A) descends — the tu form of descendre in the present indicative is descends.
  3. C) descend — the il/elle form of descendre in the present indicative is descend.
  4. B) descendons — the nous form of descendre in the present indicative is descendons.
  5. C) descendez — the vous form of descendre in the present indicative is descendez.
  6. B) descendent — the ils/elles form of descendre in the present indicative is descendent.
  7. A) en descendant — the gerund of descendre is en descendant.
  8. B) to go down — descendre means “to go down” in English.

Frequently asked questions

How is the present tense of descendre formed?

From the stem plus the present endings — the full table is at the top of this page. The je form is descends and the ils form is descendent.

When do I use the present tense of descendre?

Use it for habits, facts and things happening now. The five usage rules above, with examples, cover the situations you will meet most often.

What is the difference between the present tense and the future?

The present is for what is true now or happens regularly (descends), while the future is for what will happen (descendrai). The contrast section above shows three pairs side by side.

Where can I see the full conjugation of descendre?

On the full conjugation page for descendre, which has every tense, plus examples and a longer quiz. The examples and quiz page has more sentences in context.

Practice drill

Say the six present tense forms of descendre in order, without looking: descends, descends, descend, descendons, descendez, descendent. Then write three sentences of your own — one about today, one about yesterday, one about tomorrow — using descends, suis descendu and descendrai. Check every form against the table above. When you can produce all six persons without looking, move on to the examples and quiz page.

Related pages