Empruntent

Empruntent is the third person plural present tense form of the French verb emprunter, meaning to borrow or to obtain the temporary use of something from someone. It is used with a direct object that designates what is borrowed and often with a complément indirect introduced by à to indicate the lender (emprunter quelque chose à quelqu'un). The verb can also be used in a figurative sense, for example when someone borrows ideas, styles, or expressions from another source.

In usage, empruntent appears in sentences such as: Ils empruntent des livres à la bibliothèque municipale. Ce metteur en scène emprunte des motifs à plusieurs mythes anciens. In a financial sense, one would typically say emprunter de l'argent à quelqu'un or obtenir un emprunt, rather than using the literal direct object structure.

Conjugation notes: present indicative forms are j'emprunte, tu empruntes, il/elle emprunte, nous empruntons, vous empruntez, ils/elles empruntent. The form empruntent is identical to the third person plural form in the present indicative and also to the third person plural in the present subjunctive (qu'ils empruntent). Other tenses follow the standard pattern for -er verbs (imparfait empruntaient, passé composé emprunté, etc.).

Etymology: emprunter comes from Old French emprunter, with the noun emprunt meaning a loan; the verb historically denotes obtaining something on loan rather than transferring ownership. The term is closely related to prêter (to lend) in its semantic field, but the direction of borrowing is from the borrower’s perspective.