souhaitent

Souhaitent is the third-person plural present tense form of the French verb souhaiter, meaning to wish or to desire. It is used with the subject ils or elles and denotes a current wish, hope, or desire. The same spelling appears in the present subjunctive in the third person plural, qu’ils souhaitent, in clauses introduced by que, where the verb that follows is in the subjunctive mood.

In ordinary statements, souhaitent can take a direct object, as in ils souhaitent un avenir meilleur (they wish for a better future). It can also introduce a subordinate clause expressing a wish or hope, most commonly with que, as in ils souhaitent que tout se passe bien (they hope that everything goes well). When used with que, the subordinate verb is typically in the subjunctive: qu’ils souhaitent que cela réussisse.

Usage notes:

- The verb conveys a positive or hopeful attitude toward a desired outcome.

- It is common in both spoken and written French, appearing in personal communication, media, and formal discourse.

- Different persons and tenses of souhaiter have regular -er verb conjugations, so its other forms follow predictable patterns.

Etymology and related forms:

Souhaiter comes from the noun souhait (a wish), itself rooted in the French history of expressing desires. Related forms include je souhaite, tu souhaites, il souhaite, nous souhaitons, vous souhaitez, and ils souhaitent, as well as their subjunctive equivalents: que je souhaite, que tu souhaites, qu’il souhaite, que nous souhaitions, que vous souhaitiez, qu’ils souhaitent. The core semantic field remains the act of wishing or desiring a certain outcome.