émettons

Émettons is a French verb form derived from the verb émettre, meaning to emit or to send forth. It functions as the first-person plural present indicative, corresponding to “we emit” or “we are emitting.” It can also serve as the inclusive imperative for nous, as in expressions like Émettons des hypothèses, meaning “Let us emit/hypothesize” or “Let us send forth” in a planned or collaborative context.

Morphology and pronunciation: The form is written émettons, with two t’s (é-m-e-t-t-o-n-s) because the stem ends in -t and the suffix -tons is added for the nous form. It is pronounced roughly [e.me.tɔ̃] in standard French, with the final nasal vowel in the -ons ending.

Usage: In everyday French, émettons appears in the standard present tense as “nous émettons.” In scholarly, analytical, or instructional writing, it is commonly used to introduce a supposition or a proposed action: Émettons l’hypothèse selon laquelle … (“Let us hypothesize that …”). It is also used in literal senses to describe emitting or issuing something, for example with signs, signals, or particles, though the literal sense typically relies on the base verb émettre.

Etymology and related terms: Émettre comes from Latin emittere, from ex- (out) + mittere (to send). Related words include émission (emission), émetteur (emitter), and émision (emitting).

See also: émettre, émission, émetteur.