Languages › French 'Listen to the Radio' in French is 'Écouter la Radio' In English, you'd add 'to.' No need to add a preposition in French. Print Frontdoor Images/Getty Images French Grammar Pronunciation & Conversation Vocabulary Resources For Teachers By ThoughtCo Team Updated on November 10, 2017 Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them. The verb écouter does not need a preposition to connect it to the next word. So when you're listening to the radio or anything else in French, you would not add a preposition, as you would in English: J'écoute la radio. > I'm listening to the radio. Il aime écouter les discours. > He likes listening to speeches. Écoutez la voix de la sagesse. > Listen to the voice of reason. Elle va te faire écouter un chanson. > She's going to play you a song. Verbs and Prepositions: To Add or Not To Add Read More How to Use French Verbs with Prepositions By ThoughtCo Team Many French verbs do need a preposition such as à or de—by far the most common—to connect them to the next verb and complete their meaning. It's this way in English, too; consider "to look at" and "to take care of." But many of the most common French verbs, such as aller, croire, faire, falloir, penser, pouvoir, sentir, savoir, venir, voir and vouloir, do not need a preposition at all and are usually in constructions that go directly from conjugated verb to infinitive or conjugated verb to direct object: no preposition + infinitive no preposition + direct object The confusion arises for English-language speakers when the prepositions required for French verbs are not the same as the ones required by their English equivalents, or when some verbs that require a preposition in English don't take one in French, and vice versa. Écouter Doesn't Need a Preposition Écouter is one of those French verbs that are not followed by a preposition whereas their English equivalents are. The explanation? The French verb écouter means "to listen to," which cancels the need to add another preposition. Beginners often mistakenly add à after écouter, in effect saying "to listen to to something." And that is a classic French learner's mistake. Some French learners find it helpful to memorize lists of verbs by the prepositions they require, while others prefer a master list of alphabetized verbs. Additional Resources How to Use French verbs with and without prepositions List of correct prepositions that follow French verbs, if anyMost common French prepositionsFrench infinitives Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Team, ThoughtCo. "'Listen to the Radio' in French is 'Écouter la Radio'." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/ecouter-a-la-radio-french-mistake-1369455. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). 'Listen to the Radio' in French is 'Écouter la Radio'. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/ecouter-a-la-radio-french-mistake-1369455 Team, ThoughtCo. "'Listen to the Radio' in French is 'Écouter la Radio'." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/ecouter-a-la-radio-french-mistake-1369455 (accessed April 17, 2024). copy citation