Pêchent

Pêchent is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb pêcher, meaning to fish. It can also occur in the present subjunctive in a clause introduced by que, as in qu’ils pêchent.

Pêcher is an -ER verb. Its full present tense paradigm is: je pêche, tu pêches, il pêche, nous pêchons, vous pêchez, ils pêchent. The form pêchent specifically corresponds to ils/elles in the present indicative and also appears as qu’ils pêchent in the present subjunctive.

Etymology and related terms: pêcher (to fish) comes from Latin piscari, reflecting the activity of fishing. It is distinct in spelling and sometimes in meaning from pécher (to sin), which derives from peccare. In everyday French, the noun pêche can refer to fishing, the fruit peach, or the act of fishing in general, with context usually clarifying the sense.

Pronunciation and orthography: pêchent is pronounced roughly as [pɛʃ], with the final -ent typically silent in ordinary speech. The circumflex on ê indicates historical vowel change and a relationship to the root pêch-.

Usage notes: pêchent describes a group performing the action of fishing in the present. It is commonly used with direct objects, as in ils pêchent des truites (they are fishing for trout). Negation uses ne... pas: ils ne pêchent pas aujourd’hui. The form appears in literature, journalism, and everyday speech when referring to multiple fishers.

See also: pêcher, pécher, pêche.