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En travaillant, j'entends les dockers crier.

En travaillant, j'entends les dockers crier.
While working, I hear the dockers shouting.
From Lesson 259:Verbs of perception with infinitives·French

Questions & Answers about En travaillant, j'entends les dockers crier.

Why is crier in the infinitive (to shout) when the English translation uses "shouting"?
In French, when you see, hear, or feel someone doing something, you use a verb of perception (like entendre) followed by the object (les dockers) and the infinitive of the action verb (crier). While English often uses an "-ing" word here, French strictly uses the infinitive.
What grammatical structure is "En travaillant"?
This is the gerund (le gérondif), which translates to "while working". You form it by taking the nous form of the present tense (travaillons), dropping the -ons, adding -ant, and putting en in front. It is used to show that two actions are happening at the exact same time by the same person.
Could I change the word order to "j'entends crier les dockers"?
Yes! With verbs of perception, if the object is a noun (like les dockers), you can place the infinitive either before or after it. Both j'entends les dockers crier and j'entends crier les dockers are correct and mean the same thing.
Is "entendre" related to the English word "intend"?
No, entendre is a classic "false friend". It looks like "intend", but it actually means "to hear". If you want to say that you intend to do something, you would use the phrase avoir l'intention de.

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