écouter de la musique
To listen to music in French is écouter de la musique.
The phrase is used to describe the act of paying attention to sounds from a musical recording or performance for enjoyment.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the verb écouter (to listen) and the partitive article de la (some), which is used for uncountable nouns like music.
Which one should you use?
The phrase écouter de la musique uses a partitive article to mean listen to music in general, whereas écouter la musique refers to a specific piece of music.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly add the preposition à after écouter because 'listen' is followed by 'to' in English, but écouter is a direct transitive verb in French. Do not say écouter à la musique.
Did you know?
- In French, the word écoute can refer to 'eavesdropping' or 'wiretapping' in a surveillance context, far beyond just listening to music.
- In modern French slang, the phrase être à l'écoute means to be empathetic or open to someone's problems, moving the act of listening from music to emotion.
- French has a specialized medical term ausculter, meaning to listen to the heart or lungs, which is a linguistic sibling of the verb écouter.
Examples in context
- Elle aime écouter de la musique.She likes to listen to music.This sentence is useful for expressing a preference for the activity using écouter de la musique.Tatoeba #134188 by Julien_PDC, translation #312758 by CK
- Mon passe-temps est d'écouter de la musique.My hobby is to listen to music.This sentence is useful for describing a hobby using écouter de la musique.Tatoeba #6012 by kurisutofu, translation #6011 by Zifre
- C'est très agréable d'écouter de la musique.It's a lot of fun to listen to music.This sentence is useful for expressing that the activity is pleasant using écouter de la musique.Tatoeba #533541 by sysko, translation #7810549 by CM
- Écoutez de la musique pour vous détendreListen to music to relax yourself
- J'apprécie de vous voir écouter de la musiqueI appreciate seeing you listening to music
- J'adore écouter de la musiqueI love listening to music
- écouter de la musique attentivementListen to music attentively
- écouter de la musique passionnémentListen to music passionately
- J'adore écouter de la musique classiqueI love listening to classical music
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are sitting in a park.
- HugoTu veux écouter de la musique avec moi ?Do you want to listen to music with me?
- ManonOui, j'adore écouter de la musique en plein air.Yes, I love listening to music outdoors.
- HugoQuel genre de musique préfères-tu, Manon ?What kind of music do you prefer, Manon?
- ManonJ'aime beaucoup le jazz.I like jazz a lot.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
