Écouter Conjugation in French
écouter means “to listen to” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 55 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about listening to the radio in the morning, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of écouter — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “J'écoute la radio le matin tous les jours.” — “I listen to the radio in the morning every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: écouter
- English: to listen to
- Verb type: Regular
- Irregular in: none — regular in every tense
- Gerund: écoutant
- Past participle: écouté
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
- Ending: -er verbs; pattern er in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for écouter, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read écouter in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about écouter
- It is regular: every form follows the ordinary -er pattern, so once you know the stem you can build the whole table. The only work is learning the endings, not memorising exceptions.
- The perfect tenses use avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle écouté. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is écoutant and the participle is écouté: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for écouter. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écoute |
| tu | écoutes |
| il/elle | écoute |
| nous | écoutons |
| vous | écoutez |
| ils/elles | écoutent |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “J'écoute de la musique le soir tous les jours.” — “I listen to music in the evening every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écoutai |
| tu | écoutas |
| il/elle | écouta |
| nous | écoutâmes |
| vous | écoutâtes |
| ils/elles | écoutèrent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. For example: “Tu écoutas de la musique le soir hier.” — “You listened to music in the evening yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écoutais |
| tu | écoutais |
| il/elle | écoutait |
| nous | écoutions |
| vous | écoutiez |
| ils/elles | écoutaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il écoutait de la musique le soir autrefois.” — “He used to listen to music in the evening in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écouterai |
| tu | écouteras |
| il/elle | écoutera |
| nous | écouterons |
| vous | écouterez |
| ils/elles | écouteront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “J'écouterai de la musique le soir demain.” — “I will listen to music in the evening tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écouterais |
| tu | écouterais |
| il/elle | écouterait |
| nous | écouterions |
| vous | écouteriez |
| ils/elles | écouteraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu écouterais de la musique le soir un jour.” — “You would listen to music in the evening one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai écouté |
| tu | as écouté |
| il/elle | a écouté |
| nous | avons écouté |
| vous | avez écouté |
| ils/elles | ont écouté |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a écouté de la musique le soir cette semaine.” — “He has listened to music in the evening this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais écouté |
| tu | avais écouté |
| il/elle | avait écouté |
| nous | avions écouté |
| vous | aviez écouté |
| ils/elles | avaient écouté |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais écouté de la musique le soir avant la fête.” — “I had listened to music in the evening before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai écouté |
| tu | auras écouté |
| il/elle | aura écouté |
| nous | aurons écouté |
| vous | aurez écouté |
| ils/elles | auront écouté |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras écouté de la musique le soir pour demain.” — “You will have listened to music in the evening by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais écouté |
| tu | aurais écouté |
| il/elle | aurait écouté |
| nous | aurions écouté |
| vous | auriez écouté |
| ils/elles | auraient écouté |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait écouté de la musique le soir hier.” — “He would have listened to music in the evening yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écoute |
| tu | écoutes |
| il/elle | écoute |
| nous | écoutions |
| vous | écoutiez |
| ils/elles | écoutent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Il est important que j'écoute de la musique le soir.” — “It is important that I listen to music in the evening.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | écoutasse |
| tu | écoutasses |
| il/elle | écoutât |
| nous | écoutassions |
| vous | écoutassiez |
| ils/elles | écoutassent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu écoutasses de la musique le soir.” — “It is important that you listen to music in the evening.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | écoute |
| nous | écoutons |
| vous | écoutez |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Écoute de la musique le soir !” — “Listen to music in the evening!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | écoute |
| nous | écoutons |
| vous | écoutez |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Ne écoute pas de la musique le soir.” — “Do not listen to music in the evening.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en écoutant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En écoutant la radio le matin, je passe un bon moment.” — “While listening to the radio in the morning, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | écouté |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai écouté la radio le matin cette semaine.” — “I have listened to the radio in the morning this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with écouter, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “J'écoute la radio le matin tous les jours.” — “I listen to the radio in the morning every day.”
- “Tu écoutas de la musique le soir hier.” — “You listened to music in the evening yesterday.”
- “Il écoutait le professeur en classe autrefois.” — “He used to listen to the teacher in class in the past.”
- “J'écouterai la radio le matin demain.” — “I will listen to the radio in the morning tomorrow.”
- “Tu écouterais de la musique le soir un jour.” — “You would listen to music in the evening one day.”
- “Il a écouté le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “He has listened to the teacher in class this week.”
- “J'avais écouté la radio le matin avant la fête.” — “I had listened to the radio in the morning before the party.”
- “Tu auras écouté de la musique le soir pour demain.” — “You will have listened to music in the evening by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il écoute le professeur en classe.” — “It is important that he listen to the teacher in class.”
- “Écoute la radio le matin !” — “Listen to the radio in the morning!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je écouter la radio le matin.”
✓ Right: “Je écoute la radio le matin.”
The infinitive écouter never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated present form écoute.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je écoutent la radio le matin.”
✓ Right: “Je écoute la radio le matin.”
écoutent is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with écoute.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je écoutai la radio le matin tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je écoute la radio le matin tous les jours.”
The passé simple écoutai describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present écoute.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je écoute la radio le matin.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je écoute la radio le matin.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use écoute here, not the indicative écoute.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis écouté la radio le matin.”
✓ Right: “Je ai écouté la radio le matin.”
The passé composé of écouter is formed with avoir plus the past participle écouté: the je form is ai écouté. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “écoute” written without its accent
✓ Right: “écoute”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on écouter. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of écouter in the Present indicative?
- A) écoutes
- B) écoutons
- C) écoutez
- D) écoute
What is the il/elle form of écouter in the Passé simple?
- A) écoutai
- B) écoutas
- C) écoutâmes
- D) écouta
What is the nous form of écouter in the Imperfect?
- A) écoutais
- B) écoutait
- C) écoutiez
- D) écoutions
What is the tu form of écouter in the Future?
- A) écouterons
- B) écouteras
- C) écouterai
- D) écoutera
What is the je form of écouter in the Conditional?
- A) écouterais
- B) écouterait
- C) écouterions
- D) écouteriez
What is the il/elle form of écouter in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) as écouté
- B) avons écouté
- C) a écouté
- D) ai écouté
What is the il/elle form of écouter in the Present subjunctive?
- A) écoutes
- B) écoutions
- C) écoutiez
- D) écoute
What is the je form of écouter in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) écoutasse
- B) écoutasses
- C) écoutât
- D) écoutassions
What is the gerund of écouter?
- A) en mangeant
- B) en étant
- C) en écoutant
- D) en attendant
What does écouter mean in English?
- A) to wait
- B) to eat
- C) to be
- D) to listen to
Answer key
- D) écoute — the je form of écouter in the Present indicative is écoute. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) écouta — the il/elle form of écouter in the Passé simple is écouta. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) écoutions — the nous form of écouter in the Imperfect is écoutions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) écouteras — the tu form of écouter in the Future is écouteras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) écouterais — the je form of écouter in the Conditional is écouterais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) a écouté — the il/elle form of écouter in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a écouté. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) écoute — the il/elle form of écouter in the Present subjunctive is écoute. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) écoutasse — the je form of écouter in the Imperfect subjunctive is écoutasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) en écoutant — the gerund of écouter is en écoutant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to listen to — écouter means “to listen to” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does écouter mean in English?
écouter means “to listen to”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is écouter regular or irregular?
écouter is regular: it follows the ordinary -er pattern in every tense. The gerund is écoutant and the past participle is écouté.
What are the gerund and past participle of écouter?
The gerund is écoutant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is écouté — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai écouté.
Which auxiliary does écouter take in the passé composé?
écouter takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai écouté. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle écouté.
How do I say “I listen to” in French?
Say “J'écoute la radio le matin tous les jours.” — “I listen to the radio in the morning every day.” The je form of the present is écoute, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of écouter — every tense of écouter in one place.
- Écouter in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Écouter examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Attendre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Manger conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Être conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Conjugator — practise écouter with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise écouter with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise écouter with the interactive tool.