Spot the mistake
French consent corrections: consentir à, autoriser à and obliger à
Repair French complements after consentir, autoriser and obliger while preserving whether the action is agreed to, permitted or required.
- B2
- 8 sentences
- Tap the wrong word
- Learn this in the B2 notebook →
In short
Use consentir à faire, autoriser quelqu’un à faire and obliger quelqu’un à faire. Their meanings differ: the subject consents, gives another person permission or imposes an action. Use être obligé de faire for a stated requirement without naming who imposes it.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
A preposition repair should preserve the relationship between people. If Mina is authorised to film, the correction must not turn the centre into the filmmaker. If members are required to register, replacing the verb with consentir would remove the obligation rather than repair the complement.
| Frame | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| consentir à | Mina consent à participer. | Mina agrees to participate. |
| autoriser quelqu’un à | Le centre autorise Mina à filmer. | The centre permits Mina to film. |
| obliger quelqu’un à | Le règlement oblige les membres à s’inscrire. | The rules require members to register. |
| être obligé de | Les membres sont obligés de s’inscrire. | The members are obliged to register. |
Tap the word that's wrong in each sentence.
She consents to participating.
Consentir à introduces the action the subject agrees to perform.
The centre permits Mina to film.
Use autoriser quelqu’un à faire. Mina remains the person permitted to film.
The rules require members to register.
Use obliger quelqu’un à faire. The sentence expresses a requirement, not voluntary agreement.
We consent to this use.
The noun complement also takes à: consentir à cet usage.
You are permitted to enter.
The passive pattern keeps à before the infinitive: vous êtes autorisés à entrer.
They are obliged to reply.
In this passive adjective-like pattern, use être obligé de faire.
She authorised distribution of the extract.
Here la diffusion is a noun: use la diffusion de l’extrait. It is not the autoriser quelqu’un à faire frame.
He consents to publication of his name.
Consentir à la publication names the use he agrees to; it does not state that publication is compulsory.
Distinguish the verb’s frame from the noun’s complement
In elle a autorisé la diffusion de l’extrait, the direct object of autoriser is la diffusion de l’extrait. The de belongs to the noun diffusion. In elle a autorisé Mina à diffuser l’extrait, the person is the object and the action follows à. Looking at the next noun or infinitive helps you choose the construction rather than attaching the same preposition everywhere.
Mina est autorisée à filmer, mais elle n’est pas obligée de le faire.
Mina is permitted to film, but she is not obliged to do so.
This final sentence keeps permission and obligation distinct while using both passive frames. The first allows the action; the second denies that it is required. An affirmative consent statement would need Mina’s own agreement rather than being inferred from either clause.
With obliger, this distinction describes the usual requirement pattern. An explicit passive agent can retain à: Ils ont été obligés par le règlement à s’inscrire. Without that agent, use the ordinary result expression ils sont obligés de s’inscrire. The active construction with de also occurs in older or very formal writing; practise obliger quelqu’un à faire for the modern active pattern here.