déclinez

déclinez is a French verb form that functions as the second‑person plural imperative of “décliner.” The verb “décliner” has two principal senses in contemporary French. First, it indicates a refusal or rejection of an invitation, offer, or request: they declined the invitation (ils ont décliné l’invitation). Second, it can describe a formal or diplomatic refusal, often used in international relations or legal contexts (le pays a décliné l’alliance). The sense of “to detail” or “to specify” also exists, as in “décliner les nuances” (to spell out the nuances).

The present subjunctive and future forms are declared, whereas the past participle is “décliné.” The root comes from the Latin *declinare*, meaning “to turn away.” In modern usage, “décliner” remains common in both written and spoken French, though more informal vocabulary may replace it in everyday conversations.

The imperative form “déclinez” is used when addressing multiple people in a direct command: “Veuillez déclinez votre concurrence” (please decline your competition). It is occasionally encountered in business or diplomatic directives.

In broader linguistic terms, “décliner” connects to declension, the variation of word forms to indicate grammatical categories, which is visible in inflected languages. However, in French, the language is largely analytic and rarely employs declension, so the verb is mostly used in the context of refusal or specification rather than grammatical inflection.