descends
/de.sɑ̃/
To get down in French is descends.
The verb is used to describe moving from a higher position to a lower one. When you want to specify what person or object someone is getting down from, you should use the preposition de after the verb.
How does it change in a sentence?
The infinitive form of this verb is descendre. If you are giving a command to more than one person or to someone you address formally, use descendez instead of descends.
How do you pronounce it?
/de.sɑ̃/. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- In certain contexts, 'descendre' can be used as slang to mean 'to assassinate' or 'to hit' someone, moving far away from its literal physical meaning.
- The word descendre is a frequent 'false friend' for English speakers when using it to describe downloading files, where the correct term is actually télécharger.
- In French, descendre is used for getting off a bus, train or plane, whereas English speakers distinguish between 'getting down' and 'getting off'.
Examples in context
- Descends de là !Get down from there.The sentence is useful for telling someone to get down from a specific location using descends.Tatoeba #127403 by TRANG, translation #51042 by CM
- Descends de ton cheval.Get down from your horse.The sentence is useful for telling someone to get down from their horse using descends.Tatoeba #534412 by sacredceltic, translation #282363 by CM
- Descends de cet arbre !Get down from that tree!The sentence is useful for telling someone to get down from a tree using descends.Tatoeba #3644751 by sacredceltic, translation #3143752 by Hybrid
- Veuillez vous baisser avant de passer sous la barrière.Please get down before going under the barrier.
- Descends du mur avant de te blesser.Get down from the wall before you get hurt.
- Dépêche-toi, descends !Hurry up, get down!
- Descends de la chaiseGet down from the chair
- Descendez de l'arbre, s'il vous plaît.Get down from the tree, please.
- 5 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel is standing on a chair to reach a shelf.
- ChloéGabriel, descends de cette chaise, s'il te plaît.Gabriel, get down from that chair, please.
- GabrielD'accord, je descends tout de suite.Okay, I'm getting down right now.
- ChloéFais attention en descendant.Be careful as you get down.
- GabrielC'est bon, je suis en bas.It's okay, I'm down.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry descends, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
