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descendre à bord de
/dɛsɑ̃dʁ a bɔʁ də/
to disembark from
Les passagers doivent descendre à bord de l'avion.
Passengers must disembark from the plane.
neutral
To exit a vehicle, ship, or aircraft after arriving at a destination.
Après l'atterrissage, nous avons descendu à bord de l'avion rapidement.
After landing, we disembarked from the plane quickly.
Les marins descendent à bord du navire à quai.
The sailors disembark from the ship at the dock.
Commonly used in travel contexts (planes, ships, trains). The preposition 'de' indicates the origin of disembarkation.
Collocations
descendre à bord d'un avionto disembark from a planedescendre à bord d'un bateauto disembark from a boatdescendre à bord d'un trainto disembark from a train
Antonyms
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Common Mistake
Do not confuse 'descendre à bord de' with 'descendre du' (to get off from). 'Descendre à bord de' specifically refers to disembarking from a vehicle/ship, while 'descendre du' is more general (e.g., 'descendre du bus').
Gold Rule
Preposition Usage
Always use 'à bord de' after 'descendre' when referring to vehicles or ships. For other contexts (e.g., buildings), use 'descendre de' (e.g., 'descendre de l'immeuble').
Word Origin
From 'descendre' (to descend/go down) + 'à bord de' (on board of). 'Descendre' comes from Latin 'descendere' (to descend), and 'bord' is from Old French 'borde' (ship's side).
Usage Notes
Used in formal and informal contexts. In aviation, it often refers to the process of leaving the aircraft after landing. The phrase is literal and does not carry idiomatic meanings.
Word Breakdown
descendre
to descend/go down
verbà bord de
on board of
prepositional phraseDictionnaire Français-Anglais