je, tu, il ਅਤੇ ils ਦੇ ਰੂਪ ਇੱਕੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਸੁਣਦੇ ਹਨ — -e, -es ਅਤੇ -ent ਸਾਰੇ ਚੁੱਪ ਹਨ। ਸਿਰਫ਼ nous (-ons) ਅਤੇ vous (-ez) ਵੱਖਰੇ ਸੁਣਾਈ ਦਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
| Person | Presentnow, habits | Passé composécompleted past | Imparfaitongoing past | Futur procheabout to | Futur simplewill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | écoutesounds the same as another form in this tense | ai écouté | écoutaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vais écouter | écouteraisounds the same as another form in this tense |
| tu | écoutessounds the same as another form in this tense | as écoutésounds the same as another form in this tense | écoutaissounds the same as another form in this tense | vas écoutersounds the same as another form in this tense | écouterassounds the same as another form in this tense |
| il/elle | écoutesounds the same as another form in this tense | a écoutésounds the same as another form in this tense | écoutaitsounds the same as another form in this tense | va écoutersounds the same as another form in this tense | écouterasounds the same as another form in this tense |
| nous | écoutons | avons écouté | écoutions | allons écouter | écouteronssounds the same as another form in this tense |
| vous | écoutez | avez écouté | écoutiez | allez écouter | écouterezsounds the same as another form in this tense |
| ils/elles | écoutentsounds the same as another form in this tense | ont écouté | écoutaientsounds the same as another form in this tense | vont écouter | écouterontsounds the same as another form in this tense |
Now, and habits. écoute covers both "I listen to" and "I am listen toing" — French has no separate continuous form.
A completed past action. avoir conjugates and écouté does not — ai écouté.
An ongoing or habitual past. Built on the nous-present stem, so écoutons gives you écoutais.
About to happen. aller conjugates; écouter never moves — the easier future to produce under pressure.
Will happen. Built on écouter-, which is just the infinitive, so only the endings are new.
Three more forms worth knowing
Not among the five TEF/TCF-scored tenses above, but common past A1–A2.
Passé récentjust happened
| je | viens d'écouter |
|---|---|
| tu | viens d'écouter |
| il/elle | vient d'écouter |
| nous | venons d'écouter |
| vous | venez d'écouter |
| ils/elles | viennent d'écouter |
Impératifcommands — no je/il/ils form
| tu | écoute |
|---|---|
| nous | écoutons |
| vous | écoutez |
Gérondifwhile doing — one invariant form
en écoutant
What this table tells you about écouter
The past participle is écouté, and it takes avoir in the passé composé — so it never changes shape, whoever the subject is. No agreement to remember here.
The futur simple is built on écouter-, which is just the infinitive — the endings are the whole story, nothing new to learn for this tense.
In both the present and the imparfait, je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles are one sound: écoute, écoutes, écoutent — indistinguishable spoken. Only nous and vous carry an audible ending.
The imparfait is built on the nous-present stem, so once you know écoutons you already know écoutais, écoutait and écoutaient. Futur proche keeps écouter untouched.