Je vais descendre rapidement l'escalier.

I am going to go down the stairs quickly.

Breakdown of Je vais descendre rapidement l'escalier.

• je: I
• aller: to go
• l'escalier: the stairs
• rapidement: quickly
• descendre: to go down

Questions & Answers about Je vais descendre rapidement l'escalier.

Why do we use vais + descendre in this sentence?

In French, aller + infinitive is a common way to express the near future. Je vais descendre indicates that the action of going down the stairs is going to happen soon, rather than describing something happening right now.

Why is descendre followed directly by l'escalier without a preposition?

The verb descendre can be used transitively to mean to go down something. In this sentence, descendre takes a direct object (l'escalier) to show what is being descended. If you say descendre de something, it usually means leaving or getting out of it (e.g., descendre de la voiture – to get out of the car).

What’s the difference between Je descends rapidement l’escalier and Je vais descendre rapidement l’escalier?

Je descends rapidement l’escalier is in the present tense and describes what the speaker is doing right now. Je vais descendre rapidement l’escalier is in the near future tense, describing what the speaker is about to do very soon.

Why is rapidement placed after vais descendre? Can it go somewhere else?

In French, adverbs often come right after the verb in simple tenses. With aller + infinitive, you can place some adverbs after aller or after the infinitive. It’s possible to say Je vais rapidement descendre l’escalier, but it sometimes slightly changes the emphasis. Placing rapidement immediately after descendre focuses on how you will descend the stairs.

Could we say les escaliers instead of l’escalier?

Yes, but it depends on context. In French, you can say l’escalier when referring to a single staircase. Les escaliers would suggest multiple staircases or sets of stairs. In many homes or buildings, there is typically one main staircase, so l’escalier is more common in that context.