j'ai regardé
In French, "I watched" is expressed as j'ai regardé.
This phrase is used to indicate that someone looked at something with attention in the past. While the verb regarder implies a conscious act of looking with attention, it is distinct from the verb voir, which refers to the passive perception of seeing something.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the subject je (I), the auxiliary verb avoir (to have) and the past participle regardé (watched/looked at).
Which one should you use?
Use j'ai regardé for a specific, completed event. For background descriptions or habitual actions in the past, you would use a different tense.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase j'ai regardé represents a completed action (I watched). If you want to describe an ongoing action in the past, such as "I was watching", you should use the imperfect form je regardais.
Did you know?
- The phrase regarder can also mean 'to concern' or 'to be any of one's business'. For example, ça ne te regarde pas means 'that is none of your business'.
- The word regard can also be used as a noun to mean 'the way someone looks at you' or even 'one's gaze', which is a more poetic way to describe a person's expression.
- In French, the verb regarder is used in the phrase regarde ! to get someone's attention, similar to 'look!' or 'check this out!' This is a common social signal that accompanies a pointing gesture.
Examples in context
- J'ai regardé un film.I watched a flick.This sentence is useful for saying you watched a film using j'ai regardé.Tatoeba #6845893 by GB3, translation #3031101 by Ricardo14
- J'ai regardé les infos.I watched the news.This sentence is useful for saying you watched the news using j'ai regardé.Tatoeba #11733842 by Aiji, translation #5859335 by CK
- J'ai regardé tout le truc.I watched the whole thing.This sentence is useful for saying you watched the whole thing using j'ai regardé.Tatoeba #2590265 by sacredceltic, translation #2544945 by CK
- J'ai regardé le film hier soir.I watched the movie last night.
- J'ai visionné le documentaire ce weekend.I watched the documentary this weekend.
- J'ai regardé le spectacle hier soir.I watched the show last night.
- 26 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are talking about a new documentary.
- HugoJ'ai regardé ce documentaire hier.I watched this documentary yesterday.
- EmmaC'était intéressant, Hugo ?Was it interesting, Hugo?
- HugoOui, j'ai regardé avec attention.Yes, I watched it closely.
- EmmaJe vais le voir aussi.I will watch it too.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
