voient

Voient is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb voir, meaning to see. It is used with ils or elles as the subject to express that they currently perceive with their eyes or understand something.

Conjugation note: Voient appears in the present tense as the form for ils/elles: voir conjugates as je vois, tu vois, il voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils voient. The verb voir is irregular, with unique stems and spellings across tenses, and voients pronunciation is typically [vwa].

Etymology and usage: Voir comes from Latin videre, meaning to see. In modern French, voir covers physical perception (seeing a person, a landscape) and non-physical senses such as understanding or realizing something. It can also introduce subordinate clauses via que, indicating recognition (Je vois ce que vous voulez dire).

Examples:

- Ils voient le paysage au loin.

- Elles voient mieux après un peu de repos.

- Je vois ce que vous proposez.

Idiomatic and figurative use: Voir peut also express awareness or perception beyond the physical sense, as in “voir clair dans quelque chose” (to see clearly into something) or “voir le jour” (to come into existence). The form voients is thus essential for conveying plural perception in the present.

In summary, voients functions as the present-tense plural form of voir, a core verb used for perceiving, understanding, and recognizing in everyday French.