Learn French: Pendant la récréation, on écoutait la cloche. - During recess, we used to listen to the bell.

To form the imparfait (imperfect tense), we take the present tense nous form of the verb, drop the -ons, and add the imperfect endings. For écouter (to listen), the nous form is écoutons. We drop the -ons to get the stem écout-. Since the subject here is on, we add the third-person singular ending -ait to make écoutait.

Why does the translation say "we used to listen" when the French uses on?

In everyday spoken French, on is almost always used instead of nous to mean "we". However, grammatically, on is singular and always takes the same verb conjugation as il and elle (he and she). That's why the verb ends in -ait instead of the nous ending -ions.

Could écoutait also translate to "were listening"?

Yes! The imparfait is used for both ongoing past actions and repeated, habitual past actions. Depending on the broader context of the story, on écoutait can mean "we used to listen" (a habit every recess) or "we were listening" (setting the scene of what was happening at a specific moment).

Why isn't there a word for "to" after écoutait, like in "listen to the bell"?