Descendre Conjugation in French
descendre means “to go down” in English, and it is a verb French learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of descendre — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: French spelling and endings change with the person and the tense, and descendre is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: descendre
- English: to go down
- Verb type: Regular -re verb
- Irregular in: — (regular in every tense)
- Gerund: en descendant
- Past participle: descendu
- Auxiliary: être (all perfect tenses are formed with être + the past participle)
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.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for descendre. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descends |
| tu | descends |
| il/elle | descend |
| nous | descendons |
| vous | descendez |
| ils/elles | descendent |
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descendis |
| tu | descendis |
| il/elle | descendit |
| nous | descendîmes |
| vous | descendîtes |
| ils/elles | descendirent |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descendais |
| tu | descendais |
| il/elle | descendait |
| nous | descendions |
| vous | descendiez |
| ils/elles | descendaient |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descendrai |
| tu | descendras |
| il/elle | descendra |
| nous | descendrons |
| vous | descendrez |
| ils/elles | descendront |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descendrais |
| tu | descendrais |
| il/elle | descendrait |
| nous | descendrions |
| vous | descendriez |
| ils/elles | descendraient |
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | suis descendu |
| tu | es descendu |
| il/elle | est descendu |
| nous | sommes descendu |
| vous | êtes descendu |
| ils/elles | sont descendu |
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | étais descendu |
| tu | étais descendu |
| il/elle | était descendu |
| nous | étions descendu |
| vous | étiez descendu |
| ils/elles | étaient descendu |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serai descendu |
| tu | seras descendu |
| il/elle | sera descendu |
| nous | serons descendu |
| vous | serez descendu |
| ils/elles | seront descendu |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | serais descendu |
| tu | serais descendu |
| il/elle | serait descendu |
| nous | serions descendu |
| vous | seriez descendu |
| ils/elles | seraient descendu |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descende |
| tu | descendes |
| il/elle | descende |
| nous | descendions |
| vous | descendiez |
| ils/elles | descendent |
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | descendisse |
| tu | descendisses |
| il/elle | descendît |
| nous | descendissions |
| vous | descendissiez |
| ils/elles | descendissent |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | descends |
| nous | descendons |
| vous | descendez |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | descends |
| nous | descendons |
| vous | descendez |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en descendant |
| Past participle | descendu |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.”
Passé simple
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mainly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu descendis les escaliers lentement.” — “You went down the stairs slowly one day.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Il descendait les escaliers lentement quand j’étais jeune.” — “He used to go down the stairs slowly.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Nous descendrons les escaliers lentement.” — “We will go down the stairs slowly tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Vous descendriez les escaliers lentement.” — “You would go down the stairs slowly if you could.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for recent past actions and completed events. With descendre it is formed with être + the past participle descendu. For example: “Ils sont descendu les escaliers lentement hier.” — “They have gone down the stairs slowly.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'étais descendu les escaliers lentement avant la fête.” — “I had gone down the stairs slowly before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu seras descendu les escaliers lentement.” — “You will have gone down the stairs slowly by tomorrow evening.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il serait descendu les escaliers lentement.” — “He would have gone down the stairs slowly if he had been able to.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il faut que je descende les escaliers lentement.” — “It is important that I go down the stairs slowly.”
Imperfect subjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, mainly in formal writing. For example: “Il fallait que je descendisse les escaliers lentement.” — “It was important that I go down the stairs slowly.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Descends les escaliers lentement !” — “Go down the stairs slowly!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Descends les escaliers lentement !” — “Do not go down the stairs slowly!”
Gerund and past participle
The gerund is en descendant — “while going down” — used after en to say how something happens. The past participle is descendu, used with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis descendu.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with descendre, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.”
- “Tu descends les escaliers lentement.” — “You go down the stairs slowly.”
- “Il descendait les escaliers lentement.” — “He used to go down the stairs slowly.”
- “Nous descendrons les escaliers lentement.” — “We will go down the stairs slowly tomorrow.”
- “Je descendrais les escaliers lentement.” — “I would go down the stairs slowly if I could.”
- “Tu es descendu les escaliers lentement.” — “You have gone down the stairs slowly.”
- “Il était descendu les escaliers lentement.” — “He had gone down the stairs slowly before the party.”
- “Nous serons descendu les escaliers lentement.” — “We will have gone down the stairs slowly by tomorrow evening.”
- “Il faut que je descende les escaliers lentement.” — “It is important that I go down the stairs slowly.”
- “Descends les escaliers lentement !” — “Go down the stairs slowly!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je descendre les escaliers lentement.”
✓ Right: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.”
The infinitive descendre never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form descends.
2. Confusing descendre with monter
✗ Wrong: “Je descends dans le train à huit heures.” (meant as “monter”)
✓ Right: “Je descends les escaliers lentement.”
descendre means “to go down”; monter means “to go up”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Using avoir for the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “J’ai descendu les escaliers lentement.”
✓ Right: “Je suis descendu les escaliers lentement.”
With descendre the passé composé is formed with être, not avoir: suis descendu.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il faut que je descends les escaliers lentement.”
✓ Right: “Il faut que je descende les escaliers lentement.”
After il faut que French needs the subjunctive, so use descende here, not the indicative descends.
5. Forgetting that the participle agrees with être
✗ Wrong: “Elle est descendu.” (said of a woman, with the masculine form)
✓ Right: “Elle est descendue.” — the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject when the auxiliary is être; the tables on this page give the masculine singular form descendu.
With être the past participle agrees with the subject. The tables give the masculine singular; add -e for a feminine subject and -s for a plural one.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the je form of descendre in the Present indicative?
- A) descendent
- B) descendons
- C) descends
- D) descendez
What is the ils/elles form of descendre in the Present indicative?
- A) descends
- B) descendent
- C) descend
- D) descendez
What is the il/elle form of descendre in the Passé simple?
- A) descendîtes
- B) descendit
- C) descendis
- D) descendirent
What is the nous form of descendre in the Imperfect?
- A) descendions
- B) descendait
- C) descendiez
- D) descendaient
What is the tu form of descendre in the Future?
- A) descendra
- B) descendras
- C) descendrai
- D) descendrez
What is the je form of descendre in the Conditional?
- A) descendriez
- B) descendraient
- C) descendrait
- D) descendrais
What is the il/elle form of descendre in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) sont descendu
- B) est descendu
- C) sommes descendu
- D) suis descendu
What is the vous form of descendre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) était descendu
- B) étiez descendu
- C) étions descendu
- D) étais descendu
What is the gerund of descendre?
- A) descends
- B) descendu
- C) en descendant
- D) descendrai
What is the past participle of descendre?
- A) descends
- B) descendais
- C) en descendant
- D) descendu
Answer key
- C) descends — the je form of descendre in the present indicative is descends.
- B) descendent — the ils/elles form of descendre in the present indicative is descendent.
- B) descendit — the il/elle form of descendre in the passé simple is descendit.
- A) descendions — the nous form of descendre in the imperfect is descendions.
- B) descendras — the tu form of descendre in the future is descendras.
- D) descendrais — the je form of descendre in the conditional is descendrais.
- B) est descendu — the il/elle form of descendre in the present perfect (passé composé) is est descendu.
- B) étiez descendu — the vous form of descendre in the pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is étiez descendu.
- C) en descendant — the gerund of descendre is en descendant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- D) descendu — the past participle of descendre is descendu; perfect tenses use être + descendu.
Frequently asked questions
What does descendre mean in English?
descendre means “to go down”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” (“I go down the stairs slowly.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is descendre regular or irregular?
descendre is regular: its endings follow the standard -re pattern in every tense. The gerund is en descendant and the past participle is descendu.
What are the gerund and past participle of descendre?
The gerund is en descendant — use it after en for actions in progress. The past participle is descendu — use it with être for the perfect tenses, as in suis descendu.
What is the difference between descendre and monter?
descendre means “to go down”, while monter means “to go up”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for monter and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I go down” in French?
Say “Je descends les escaliers lentement.” — “I go down the stairs slowly.” The je form of the present is descends, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn descendre
Start with the present tense: descends, descends, descend, descendons, descendez, descendent. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the passé composé — suis descendu — and the imperfect — descendais. Next, learn the future (descendrai) and the conditional (descendrais), which share the same stem. Finally, tackle the subjunctive (descende) and the imperative (descends). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the present-tense quiz.
Related pages
- descendre in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the present tense.
- descendre examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- French present tense guide — how this tense works for regular verbs.
- Monter conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Traverser conjugation — another French verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise descendre with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise descendre with the interactive tool.
- Present Tense Conjugator — practise the present tense with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.