Learn French: À l'arrivée, elles sont descendues du car. - At the arrival, they got off the coach.

À l'arrivée, elles sont descendues du car.

At the arrival, they got off the coach.

Breakdown of À l'arrivée, elles sont descendues du car.

at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

Questions & Answers about À l'arrivée, elles sont descendues du car.

Why is there an -es at the end of descendues?

Because the verb descendre (to go down/get off) uses être as its helper verb in the passé composé. When a verb uses être, its past participle must agree with the subject. Since the subject is elles (feminine plural), we add an -e for feminine and an -s for plural to the base participle descendu.

Why is it du car instead of just le car?

In French, the phrase for getting out of or getting off a vehicle is descendre de. Since the word for coach is le car, we combine de + le to make the mandatory contraction du.

Wait, doesn't car mean 'car' in English?

Actually, it is a false friend! The noun le car (short for l'autocar) means a 'coach' or a long-distance bus. If you want to talk about the car you drive, you should use la voiture.

Could I translate sont descendues as 'went down'?

Yes, descendre literally means 'to go down'. However, when talking about vehicles like buses, trains, or planes, it translates more naturally to 'to get off' or 'to get out of'.