Entendez

Entendez is a French verb form derived from entendre. In standard use, it is the second person plural present indicative form, corresponding to “you hear” or “you understand.” It is also the imperative form for the vous form, meaning it can convey a command such as “Listen!” or “Hear this!” when addressing more than one person or in formal address.

Conjugation and senses. The full present tense of entendre is: j’entends, tu entends, il entend, nous entendons, vous entendez, ils entendent. Thus entendez appears in two common grammatical situations: as a descriptive statement (“Vous entendez les musiques?” – “You hear the music.”) and as a directive (“Entendez!” – “Listen!”). In questions, the form can occur as “Entendez-vous?” which means “Do you hear?” or “Are you listening?” In addition to hearing, entendre carries the sense of understanding, so “entendre” can imply comprehension as in “J’entends ce que vous dites” (“I understand what you are saying”).

Usage notes. Entendre also participates in fixed expressions such as “entendre dire que …” (to hear that …) and “entendre parler de …” (to hear talk of …), which convey information heard from others rather than direct perception. The word’s etymology traces to Old French entendre, itself from Latin intendere or some related root meaning “to direct toward” or “to stretch toward,” a development that expanded from physical hearing to notions of understanding and intent.

In summary, entendez is a versatile form of entendre used for both statements about hearing or understanding and as an imperative to listen, widely used in everyday French.