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FRENCH VERB

écouter

to listen

  • #46 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: écouté
  • Present participle: écoutant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I listen
  2. tu you listen
  3. il, elle, on he/she listens
  4. nous we listen
  5. vous you listen
  6. ils, elles they listen

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I listened
  2. tu you listened
  3. il, elle, on he/she listened
  4. nous we listened
  5. vous you listened
  6. ils, elles they listened

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to listen
  2. tu you used to listen
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to listen
  4. nous we used to listen
  5. vous you used to listen
  6. ils, elles they used to listen

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will listen
  2. tu you will listen
  3. il, elle, on he/she will listen
  4. nous we will listen
  5. vous you will listen
  6. ils, elles they will listen

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would listen
  2. tu you would listen
  3. il, elle, on he/she would listen
  4. nous we would listen
  5. vous you would listen
  6. ils, elles they would listen

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I listen
  2. tu (that) you listen
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she listen
  4. nous (that) we listen
  5. vous (that) you listen
  6. ils, elles (that) they listen

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu listen!
  2. nous listen! (let’s)
  3. vous listen! (plural, or formal)

How to use écouter

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    J'écoute de la musique en faisant le ménage.

    I listen to music while doing the housework.

  2. Past

    Tu as écouté mon message d'hier ?

    Did you listen to my message from yesterday?

  3. Imperfect

    Le soir, on écoutait la radio en famille.

    In the evenings, we listened to the radio as a family.

  4. Future

    Je t'écouterai après le dîner, promis.

    I'll listen to you after dinner, promise.

  5. Conditional

    Il écouterait plus s'il parlait moins.

    He'd listen more if he talked less.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que vous écoutiez la fin de l'histoire.

    You need to listen to the end of the story.

  7. Imperative

    Écoute, on en parle demain, d'accord ?

    Listen, we'll talk about it tomorrow, okay?

Good to know

  • Écouter has no preposition: j'écoute la radio.

Where you hear écouter

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • J'écoute de la musique française. I listen to French music.
  • Chloé m'a écoutée toute la soirée. Chloe listened to me all evening.
  • Je vais écouter la radio. I'm going to listen to the radio.

French · Beginner Level 3

  • J'écoute les histoires de Mamie Jeanne. I listen to Mamie Jeanne's stories.
  • On écoutait les histoires de mon grand-père. We listened to my grandfather's stories.
  • Je vais écouter la radio. I'm going to listen to the radio.
3
Good News

Beginner Level 2 · je vous écoute

Needs a subscription 26
A Homesick Evening

Beginner Level 2 · écouter

Needs a subscription 18
The Storm

Beginner Level 3 · on écoutait

Needs a subscription 26
A Talk with Nathalie

Beginner Level 3 · Je vous écoute. · je t'écoute · tu m'écoutes

Needs a subscription 30
Opening Day

Beginner Level 3 · écoutez

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.