Écouté

Écouté is the past participle of the French verb écouter, which means “to listen” or “to hear.” As a verb form, it is used in compound tenses with the auxiliary être or, more commonly, avoir, and agrees in gender and number with the subject when employed with être in reflexive constructions (e.g., Elle s’est écoutée). In its typical role with avoir, the participle remains invariable (Il a écouté le discours). The term can also function adjectivally, describing something that has been listened to or that has received attention (un texte bien écouté).

In French grammar, écouter is a transitive verb; its direct object is the sound, speech, or person being heard. The participle écouté can therefore introduce relative clauses (les paroles que j’ai écoutées). When used in idiomatic expressions, it often conveys the notion of careful consideration, as in prendre en compte les remarques écoutées.

The word appears frequently in literature, journalism, and everyday speech to indicate that a speaker has paid attention to auditory information. In music criticism, a recording may be described as « bien écouté » to denote attentive listening by the reviewer.

Related forms include the infinitive écouter, the present participle écoutant, and derived nouns such as l’écoute (the act of listening) and l’auditeur (the listener). The participle follows the regular formation pattern for -er verbs, adding the suffix –é to the stem. Écouté thus encapsulates both the grammatical function of a past participle and the broader semantic field of auditory perception in French.