confère

Conférer is a French transitive verb meaning to grant, bestow, or confer something on someone, such as a right, title, privilege, or status. It can also be used figuratively to attribute a quality, impression, or significance to an object or action. In formal or legal registers, conférer is common in statements describing what a decision or act confers upon people or things. For example, "Cette distinction confère à cet objet une valeur particulière" and "Le jury confère ce prix au candidat." The construction "conférer à" is routinely used to indicate what is bestowed or attributed.

Etymology and usage notes: Conférer comes from Latin conferre, from con- "together" and ferre "to carry," meaning originally to bring together claims, rights, or attributes. In contemporary French, it retains the sense of granting or attributing, and is preferred in official, academic, or diplomatic contexts over more everyday verbs like accorder or attribuer.

Conjugation and forms: Conférer is a regular -er verb with characteristic accents. Present: je confère, tu confères, il confère, nous conférons, vous conférez, ils confèrent. Passé composé: j'ai conféré. Imparfait: je conférais. Futur: je conférerai. Conditionnel: je conférerais. Subjonctif présent: que je confère. Participe passé: conféré.

See also: décerner, attribuer, accorder. In English-language usage, related terms include conferment or conferral, reflecting the act of bestowing or granting; the idiomatic French usage remains distinctly formal and is common in legal, administrative, and scholarly writing.