prolongent

Prolongent is a French verb form. It is the third-person plural present indicative form of prolonger, meaning “they prolong” or “they extend.” It is used to describe actions that lengthen or continue something, such as a duration, a deadline, or a process.

Origin and morphology: Prolonger comes from the Latin prolongare, combining a prefix sense of continuation with the root longus (long). In the present indicative, the stem is prolong- and the ending -ent marks the third-person plural. The form is used with subject pronouns such as ils or elles, as in ils prolongent.

Usage and examples: Prolongent appears in everyday French as well as formal writing. Examples include: Ils prolongent la durée du contrat. (They are extending the duration of the contract.) Les chercheurs prolongent l’étude pour obtenir des résultats plus complets. (The researchers are prolonging the study to obtain more complete results.)

Notes: Prolongent is strictly a verb form and not a noun. It can appear in past or future contexts through other tenses and periphrastic constructions that involve prolonger, but prolongent itself denotes present action by a plural subject in standard usage. The verb belongs to the regular -er verb conjugation pattern in French.