Breakdown of J'entends souvent les mouettes crier autour du port.
je
I
souvent
often
entendre
to hear
crier
to shout
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.
Why is it autour du port instead of autour de le port?