Écouter à la radio - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Écouter à la radio

Right: Écouter la radio

Explanation: The French verb écouter means "to listen to" - the idea of the preposition "to" is included in the verb itself. But beginners often mistakenly add à to it, in effect saying "to listen to to something," which is obviously incorrect.

   J'écoute la radio
   I'm listening to the radio

   Il aime écouter les discours
   He likes listening to speeches

   Écouter is one of several French verbs that are not followed by a preposition whereas their English equivalents are.

Related lessons:
   French verbs without prepositions
   French verbs with prepositions