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"to afford (have the money for)" in seven languages

Meaningto afford (have the money for)

Spanish

permitirse

/peɾmiˈtiɾse/

learned

French

se permettre

/sə pɛʁmɛtʁ/

inherited

Also avoir les moyens de 'to have the means to'.

Italian

permettersi

/perˈmettersi/

inherited

Portuguese

ter condições (de)

/teh kõdʒiˈsõjs/

other source · condição ← Latin CONDICIŌNEM 'terms, agreement' (learned)

Romanian

permite (își)

/perˈmite/

learned

Reflexive with a dative pronoun: nu ne permitem 'we can't afford'.

Catalan

permetre's

/pərˈmetɾəs/

inherited

English

afford

/əˈfɔɹd/

native English · Old English geforþian 'to carry out'

English → Italianto afford (have the money for)permettersiNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: permit, permission.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PERMITTERE‘to let go through, allow’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

All three say 'to allow oneself'. French and Italian wore PERMITTERE down like mettere/mettre; Spanish permitir kept the Latin i, the mark of a learned word.

English relatives: permit, permission

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In a sentence

  • esNo podemos permitirnos un coche nuevo.
  • frOn ne peut pas se permettre une nouvelle voiture.
  • itNon possiamo permetterci una macchina nuova.
  • ptNão temos condições de comprar um carro novo.
  • roNu ne permitem o mașină nouă.
  • caNo ens podem permetre un cotxe nou.
  • enWe can't afford a new car.

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words