admettre
/ad.mɛtʁ/
To admit in French is admettre. Wiktionary also lists reconnaître.
Meaning: concede as true (verb)
Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| admettre | /ad.mɛtʁ/ |
| reconnaître | /ʁə.kɔ.nɛtʁ/ |
The verb admettre means to concede something as true. It can also be used to mean admitting someone into a group or a place, such as admitting a student to a school.
Which one should you use?
While admettre is used for conceding a fact or a possibility, reconnaître is more common when talking about admitting a mistake or acknowledging a truth.
How does it change in a sentence?
admettre is a regular -re verb in its conjugation patterns, though it has an irregular stem in certain forms like the present participle admettant.
How do you pronounce it?
/ad.mɛtʁ/. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- The word reconnaître also describes the act of showing gratitude, as in reconnaissant for 'grateful'.
- The spelling of reconnaître involves a circumflex accent over the 'i', a historical remnant of the letter 's' that used to exist in the word's Old French form.
- In French, the verb admettre is used in the phrase admettre que, which often functions as a mathematical or logical premise meaning 'let us assume'.
Examples in context
- Elle refusa de l'admettre.She refused to admit it.Tatoeba #3793279 by sacredceltic, translation #3788703 by Hybrid
- Personne ne veut l'admettre.No one wants to admit it.Tatoeba #6596601 by GB3, translation #6596355 by Eccles17
- Il faut admettre ses erreurs.You need to admit your mistakes.Tatoeba #11733956 by lbdx, translation #9521550 by CK
- Je reconnais mes erreursI admit my mistakes
- Il a enfin reconnu sa fauteHe finally admitted his fault
- J'admets qu'il a raisonI admit that he is right
- Elle a admis sa culpabilitéShe admitted her guilt
- J'avoue, j'ai fait une erreurI admit, I made a mistake
- Ils ont fini par avouer la véritéThey ended up admitting the truth
- Il a finalement reconnu ses tortsHe finally admitted his wrongs
- Il a lâché le morceau et a avoué son mensongeHe finally admitted his lie
- 75 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Gabriel and Emma are discussing a project outcome.
- GabrielTu dois admettre qu'elle a bien travaillé.You must admit that she worked well.
- EmmaC'est vrai, je l'admets.It's true, I admit it.
- GabrielElle est très douée pour ce projet.She is very talented for this project.
- EmmaOui, Gabriel, tu as tout à fait raison.Yes, Gabriel, you are quite right.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “admit” translations and entries admettre, reconnaître, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
