French guides · Verb tables + audio
Entendre: hearing is not listening.
Entendre means “to hear” — what reaches your ears whether you wanted it or not. It conjugates exactly like vendre and holds no surprises at all. The two things worth knowing are that it is not interchangeable with écouter, and that its reflexive form has drifted a long way from hearing: on s’entend bien means “we get on well”.
Présent — the regular -re pattern
Stem entend-, the standard -re endings, and the bare il entend. Starting with a vowel, it takes j’.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’entends | I hear | |
| tu entends | you hear | |
| il / elle entend | he / she hears | |
| nous entendons | we hear | |
| vous entendez | you hear | |
| ils / elles entendent | they hear |
Entendre or écouter?
The same split as voir and regarder, one sense over. Entendre is what happens to you; écouter is what you do.
| French | Means | |
|---|---|---|
| j’entends la musique | I can hear music | it reaches me |
| j’écoute la musique | I’m listening to music | I chose to |
| tu m’entends ? | can you hear me? | on the phone |
| écoute-moi | listen to me | pay attention |
| j’ai entendu dire que… | I’ve heard that… | reported rumour |
J’entends covers both “I hear” and “I can hear”. Adding pouvoir narrows it to being physically able to. On a bad phone line the question is tu m’entends ?, never tu peux m’entendre ?
Two set phrases worth having. J’ai entendu dire que… — “I’ve heard that…”, for a rumour. J’ai entendu parler de ce film — “I’ve heard of that film”. English uses “heard of” and “heard that”; French uses two different verbs after entendre.
S’entendre — getting on
The reflexive has almost nothing to do with hearing any more. It means getting along with people, and it is the everyday way to say it.
- On s’entend bien. — we get on well.
- Je m’entends mal avec lui. — I don’t get on with him.
- Ils ne s’entendent plus. — they’ve fallen out.
- Entendu ! — agreed, understood.
Hearing each other → understanding each other → getting along. Bien entendu (“of course”) and un malentendu (“a misunderstanding”, literally a bad hearing) come from the same thread.
Passé composé — entendu
Regular -u participle with avoir. On its own, entendu ! means “got it, agreed”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai entendu | I heard / have heard | |
| tu as entendu | you heard / have heard | |
| il / elle a entendu | he / she heard / have heard | |
| nous avons entendu | we heard / have heard | |
| vous avez entendu | you heard / have heard | |
| ils / elles ont entendu | they heard / have heard |
Imparfait — could hear
J’entendais — usually best translated “I could hear”, which is a state rather than an event.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’entendais | I used to hear / could hear | |
| tu entendais | you used to hear / could hear | |
| il / elle entendait | he / she used to hear / could hear | |
| nous entendions | we used to hear / could hear | |
| vous entendiez | you used to hear / could hear | |
| ils / elles entendaient | they used to hear / could hear |
Futur and conditionnel
Drop the e: j’entendrai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’entendrai | I will hear | |
| tu entendras | you will hear | |
| il / elle entendra | he / she will hear | |
| nous entendrons | we will hear | |
| vous entendrez | you will hear | |
| ils / elles entendront | they will hear |
Conditionnel — would hear
J’entendrais. Also in the polite je m’entendrais bien avec eux, “I think I’d get on with them”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’entendrais | I would hear | |
| tu entendrais | you would hear | |
| il / elle entendrait | he / she would hear | |
| nous entendrions | we would hear | |
| vous entendriez | you would hear | |
| ils / elles entendraient | they would hear |
Subjonctif — regular
From the plural stem, with no changes.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’entende | (that) I hear | |
| tu entendes | (that) you hear | |
| il / elle entende | (that) he / she hear | |
| nous entendions | (that) we hear | |
| vous entendiez | (that) you hear | |
| ils / elles entendent | (that) they hear |
Impératif — rare on its own
Entends ! is unusual — you cannot instruct someone to hear. Écoute ! is what gets said. Entendons-nous bien — “let’s be clear” — does turn up.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| entends ! | hear! (to one person you know) | |
| entendons ! | let’s hear! | |
| entendez ! | hear! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had heard
J’avais entendu.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais entendu | I had heard | |
| tu avais entendu | you had heard | |
| il / elle avait entendu | he / she had heard | |
| nous avions entendu | we had heard | |
| vous aviez entendu | you had heard | |
| ils / elles avaient entendu | they had heard |
Hear it, then say it
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Quick answers
Entendre, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.