descendre

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French descendre, from Old French descendre, borrowed from Latin descendere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.sɑ̃dʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃dr

Verb

descendre

1. (intransitive) to go down
2. (intransitive, transitive) to descend
3. (transitive) to put down; disparage
4. (transitive, slang) to kill (someone)
5. (intransitive) to stay (in a hotel or other temporary lodging)

Usage notes

• This verb uses the auxiliary verb avoir when used transitively (or with a transitive sense, even when the complement is omitted); otherwise (when it is intransitive), it uses être.

  elle a descendu les valises ― she brought down the suitcases

  il est descendu de l’armoire ― he came down from the wardrobe

Conjugation

Conjugation of descendre (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	descendre
	compound	avoir or être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	descendant /de.sɑ̃.dɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		descendu /de.sɑ̃.dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	descends /de.sɑ̃/	descends /de.sɑ̃/	descend /de.sɑ̃/	descendons /de.sɑ̃.dɔ̃/	descendez /de.sɑ̃.de/	descendent /de.sɑ̃d/
	imperfect	descendais /de.sɑ̃.dɛ/	descendais /de.sɑ̃.dɛ/	descendait /de.sɑ̃.dɛ/	descendions /de.sɑ̃.djɔ̃/	descendiez /de.sɑ̃.dje/	descendaient /de.sɑ̃.dɛ/
	past historic2	descendis /de.sɑ̃.di/	descendis /de.sɑ̃.di/	descendit /de.sɑ̃.di/	descendîmes /de.sɑ̃.dim/	descendîtes /de.sɑ̃.dit/	descendirent /de.sɑ̃.diʁ/
	future	descendrai /de.sɑ̃.dʁe/	descendras /de.sɑ̃.dʁa/	descendra /de.sɑ̃.dʁa/	descendrons /de.sɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/	descendrez /de.sɑ̃.dʁe/	descendront /de.sɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	descendrais /de.sɑ̃.dʁɛ/	descendrais /de.sɑ̃.dʁɛ/	descendrait /de.sɑ̃.dʁɛ/	descendrions /de.sɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/	descendriez /de.sɑ̃.dʁi.je/	descendraient /de.sɑ̃.dʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir or être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir or être + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir or être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir or être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	descende /de.sɑ̃d/	descendes /de.sɑ̃d/	descende /de.sɑ̃d/	descendions /de.sɑ̃.djɔ̃/	descendiez /de.sɑ̃.dje/	descendent /de.sɑ̃d/
	imperfect2	descendisse /de.sɑ̃.dis/	descendisses /de.sɑ̃.dis/	descendît /de.sɑ̃.di/	descendissions /de.sɑ̃.di.sjɔ̃/	descendissiez /de.sɑ̃.di.sje/	descendissent /de.sɑ̃.dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	descends /de.sɑ̃/	—	descendons /de.sɑ̃.dɔ̃/	descendez /de.sɑ̃.de/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• descendance
• descendant
• descendeur
• descente
• redescendre

Further reading

• “descendre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• redescend

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French descendre.

Verb

descendre

1. to dismount (get down from a horse, etc.)

Descendants

• French: descendre

Occitan

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

descendre

1. to descend; to go down

   Synonym: davalar

Related terms

• descenta

References

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 189.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin descendō, descendere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /desˈt͡sendɾə/, (later) /desˈt͡sandɾə/

Verb

descendre

1. to go down; to descend
2. to dismount (get down from a horse, etc.)
   • c. 1250, Marie de France, Guigemar:

     Son seignur veit, a pié descent

     He sees his master, and goes down to him on foot

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of descendre (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		descendre			avoir descendu
gerund		en descendant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		descendant
past participle		descendu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	descent	descenz	descent	descendons	descendez	descendent
	imperfect	descendoie, descendeie	descendoies, descendeies	descendoit, descendeit	descendiiens, descendiens	descendiiez, descendiez	descendoient, descendeient
	preterite	descendi	descendis	descendié	descendimes	descendistes	descendierent
	future	descendrai	descendras	descendra	descendrons	descendroiz, descendreiz, descendrez	descendront
	conditional	descendroie, descendreie	descendroies, descendreies	descendroit, descendreit	descendriiens, descendriens	descendriiez, descendriez	descendroient, descendreient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	descende	descendes	descende	descendons	descendez	descendent
	imperfect	descendisse	descendisses	descendist	descendissons, descendissiens	descendissoiz, descendissez, descendissiez	descendissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	descent	—	descendons	descendez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: descendre
  • French: descendre
• Jersey Norman: d'scendre
• → Middle English: descenden
  • English: descend

References

• descendre on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub