Question 1

Why does this sentence use est (is) instead of a (has) for the past tense?

Accepted Answer

In the passé composé (past tense), most verbs use avoir (to have) as their helper verb. However, a specific group of verbs that describe motion or a change of state use être (to be) instead. Because descendre (to go down) is one of these motion verbs, we must use est.

Question 2

How is the word descendu formed?

Accepted Answer

It is the past participle of the verb descendre (to go down). For regular French verbs ending in -re, you drop the -re and add -u to make the past participle. So, descendre becomes descendu.

Question 3

If past tense verbs with être have to match the subject, why doesn't descendu have an extra ending?

Accepted Answer

You're right that when using être as a helper verb, the past participle must match the gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the subject. Here, the subject is l'ascenseur (the elevator), which is masculine and singular. Therefore, descendu stays in its default masculine singular form, so no extra -e or -s is added.

Question 4

Could I say très rapide instead of très vite?

Accepted Answer

Not in this sentence! Vite is an adverb meaning "fast" or "quickly." It describes how an action happens (how the elevator went down). Rapide is an adjective, which describes things or people (nouns). You would use it to say un ascenseur rapide (a fast elevator), but you need vite to say how it moved.

L'ascenseur est descendu très vite.

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