admettre

Admettre is a French verb meaning to admit, accept, acknowledge, or allow entry. It can denote acknowledging a fact or truth, permitting someone to enter a place or join a program, or conceding something. It is transitive and often followed by a direct object or by a clause introduced by que: admettre que.

Origin and conjugation: Admettre comes from Latin admittere, literally “to send toward.” It belongs to the -mettre family of French verbs but is irregular in several tenses. In the present tense, the forms are j'admets, tu admets, il admet, nous admettons, vous admettez, ils admettent. The past participle is admis, and compound tenses use the auxiliary avoir (par exemple, j'ai admis).

Usage notes: In education or administration, admettre is used for accepting or admitting someone into an institution (admettre un candidat, l’université l’a admis). In general discourse, it can mean to concede or acknowledge something as true or possible (admettre une erreur, admettre la réalité). Negation is formed with ne pas admettre (e.g., Il n’admet pas ce fait). The verb often appears with que to introduce a subordinate clause: il admet que c’est difficile. It is distinct from avouer (to confess) and reconnaître (to recognize or acknowledge more broadly).

Examples: Il a admis qu'il avait tort. La faculté l'a admis comme étudiant. On n'admet pas cette explication.