No. 949 in French

puissent

"Puissent" is the third-person plural subjunctive form of "pouvoir," meaning "may" or "might."

In a sentence

Il est important que les élèves puissent exprimer leurs idées.
It is important that the students can express their ideas.
In this sentence, 'puissent' is used as a subjunctive form following the structure 'il est important que + subjunctive'. The subjunctive is necessary here to express a necessity or wish.
Que le ciel et la terre puissent témoigner de notre engagement.
Let the sky and the earth bear witness to our commitment.
'Puissent' is employed in the subjunctive mood here as an optative expression, a rare usage to express a wish or hope.
Nous avons mis tout en oeuvre afin qu’ils puissent réussir leurs projets.
We did everything possible so that they could succeed in their projects.
The usage of 'puissent' here is subjunctive, following the conjunction 'afin que', which always precedes the subjunctive in French to express purpose or goal.

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