Log inSign up

J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port.

J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port.
I often hear the seagulls crying around the harbor.
From Lesson 259:Verbs of perception with infinitives·French

Breakdown of J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port.

je
I
souvent
often
entendre
to hear
crier
to shout
autour de
around
le port
the harbor
la mouette
the seagull

Questions & Answers about J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port.

Why is it crier in the infinitive instead of a form ending in "-ant" like the English "crying"?
When using verbs of perception like entendre (to hear), voir (to see), or sentir (to feel/smell), French uses the infinitive for the action being observed. So, "hear the seagulls crying" translates using the infinitive: entends les mouettes crier. You do not use the French present participle (criant) here.
Could I also reverse the word order and say J'entends crier les mouettes?
Yes! With verbs of perception, you can actually place the infinitive verb before the noun object. Both J'entends les mouettes crier and J'entends crier les mouettes are perfectly correct and mean the same thing. Just remember that if you replace the noun with a pronoun ("I hear them crying"), it must go before the conjugated verb: Je les entends crier.
Why does souvent come right after j'entends? In English it comes before the verb.
In French, short and common adverbs like souvent (often), toujours (always), and déjà (already) are placed immediately after the conjugated verb. You cannot put them before the verb as you do in English, and placing them at the very end of the sentence sounds unnatural.
Why is it autour du port instead of autour de le port?
The fixed phrase for "around" is autour de. Because the word for harbor is masculine (le port), you are required to combine de + le into the mandatory contraction du.

Learn J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →