Troublesome Words #2.1: Permettre

People learning English as a foreign language (EFL) reliably trip up on certain words, either because they are “false friends” or because the English equivalent has a nuance that doesn’t exist in French. The word I want to discuss in this post falls into the second category: permettre.

In many cases, the verb permettre can be translated as allow. For example, you might translate “permettez-moi de vous expliquer” as “allow me to explain.”

However, in some contexts, the verb enable is more appropriate: for example, “cet outil nous permet d'automatiser les tâches répétitives,” could be translated as “this tool enables us to automate repetitive tasks.”

So, what is the nuance here? In short, although allow and enable can sometimes be used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference in how they are employed related to the context.

Allow typically suggests the act of giving permission or making something possible. For example, “the boss allowed her employees to leave early.”

Enable goes a step further: it carries the connotation of empowerment. For example, “the training programme enabled the employees to improve their skills.” So, while allow often pertains to the removal of a restriction, you would use enable when something is being made possible.

However, another trap is to go with a word-for-word translation; French people will often translate “X permet de” as “X allows to” or “X enables to.” This doesn’t work in English as both allow and enable are ditransitive verbs, which means they require a subject (the enabler), an object (the person or thing being empowered), and an infinitive verb: "New technologies enable employees to work remotely.”

In some cases, rephrasing makes for a more idiomatic phrase. For example, you might translate “La lecture quotidienne permet d'enrichir son vocabulaire” as “reading every day makes it possible to widen your vocabulary.”

Native English speakers will often express the idea behind permettre more directly with a completely different verb or by dropping the verb altogether. Rather than sticking to allow or enable, they might say, for example, that the internet facilitates access to information (“permet un accès plus facile à l'information") or that speaking multiple languages broadens your horizons ("permet d'élargir ses horizons"). You don’t always need a verb that explicitly conveys permission or possibility.

Do you have any examples of idiomatic translations of “permettre”?