écouter: conjugation and meaning · How to Learn French

Conjugations

All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to listen to.”

Present Présent

Habits, current states, and actions happening now.

écouter: Present, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	écoute	I listen to
tu	écoutes	you listen to
il / elle / on	écoute	he / she / it listens toon: we listen to / one listens to
nous	écoutons	we listen to
vous	écoutez	you listen to
ils / elles	écoutent	they listen to

IN A SENTENCEPresent example

Paul écoute une émission de radio.

Paul listens to a radio program.

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Passé composé

Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.

écouter: Passé composé, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	ai écouté	I listened to
tu	as écouté	you listened to
il / elle / on	a écouté	he / she / it listened toon: we listened to / one listened to
nous	avons écouté	we listened to
vous	avez écouté	you listened to
ils / elles	ont écouté	they listened to

IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example

Hier, Paul a écouté une émission de radio.

Yesterday, Paul listened to a radio program.

The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.

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Imperfect Imparfait

Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.

écouter: Imperfect, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	écoutais	I used to listen to
tu	écoutais	you used to listen to
il / elle / on	écoutait	he / she / it used to listen toon: we used to listen to / one used to listen to
nous	écoutions	we used to listen to
vous	écoutiez	you used to listen to
ils / elles	écoutaient	they used to listen to

IN A SENTENCEImperfect example

Autrefois, Paul écoutait une émission de radio.

Back then, Paul used to listen to a radio program.

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Future Futur simple

Future events and predictions.

écouter: Future, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	écouterai	I will listen to
tu	écouteras	you will listen to
il / elle / on	écoutera	he / she / it will listen toon: we will listen to / one will listen to
nous	écouterons	we will listen to
vous	écouterez	you will listen to
ils / elles	écouteront	they will listen to

IN A SENTENCEFuture example

Plus tard, Paul écoutera une émission de radio.

Later, Paul will listen to a radio program.

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Conditional Conditionnel présent

Hypothetical events and polite requests.

écouter: Conditional, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	écouterais	I would listen to
tu	écouterais	you would listen to
il / elle / on	écouterait	he / she / it would listen toon: we would listen to / one would listen to
nous	écouterions	we would listen to
vous	écouteriez	you would listen to
ils / elles	écouteraient	they would listen to

IN A SENTENCEConditional example

Paul écouterait une émission de radio.

Paul would listen to a radio program.

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Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent

Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.

écouter: Present subjunctive, with English translations
Subject	French	English
je / j’	écoute	(that) I listen to
tu	écoutes	(that) you listen to
il / elle / on	écoute	(that) he / she / it listens toon: (that) we listen to / one listens to
nous	écoutions	(that) we listen to
vous	écoutiez	(that) you listen to
ils / elles	écoutent	(that) they listen to

IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example

Il est possible que Paul écoute une émission de radio.

It is possible that Paul listens to a radio program.

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French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”

Meaning & usage

to listen
to listen to
to watch (a film or television)

English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗

Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations