J'aime écouter la voix de Marie.

I like to listen to Marie's voice.

Breakdown of J'aime écouter la voix de Marie.

• je: I
• Marie: Marie
• aimer: to like
• de: of

Questions & Answers about J'aime écouter la voix de Marie.

Why do we write J'aime instead of writing Je aime?

In French, when je is followed by a vowel sound (for example, the vowel in aime), it contracts to j'. This makes the sentence flow better and is required by standard French spelling and pronunciation rules.

Why is there no preposition before écouter in French?

In French, certain verbs are used directly with their objects without a preposition, and écouter (to listen) is one of them. You simply say écouter quelque chose (“to listen to something” in English), rather than inserting a preposition like à or de.

Why do we use la in la voix?

The noun voix (voice) is feminine in French, so it takes the feminine definite article la. In French, each noun is treated as either masculine or feminine, and articles must agree with that gender.

Why do we say la voix de Marie instead of la voix à Marie?

In French, possession is usually indicated with de + [name or noun]. Saying la voix de Marie means “Marie’s voice.” The structure à Marie is typically not used to show possession; de is the correct preposition for expressing belonging.