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'See them leave', 'hear them laugh': perception verbs plus an infinitive

When you describe something you notice happening, French often puts a plain infinitive directly after the verb of perception: j'entends les enfants rire, je vois le bus arriver. There is no preposition and no special verb form in between. The same pattern works with voir, entendre, regarder, écouter, observer and sentir.

English speakers tend to trip here because English usually reaches for an -ing form: I hear the children laughing. French has no equivalent -ing form in this position, so learners often invent one or slip in a preposition like à or de. In French, the infinitive by itself does the whole job.

Word list
écouterA1 to listen écouter la pluie tomber entendreA1 to hear j'entends les oiseaux chanter regarderA1 to look regarder les enfants jouer regarderA1 to watch regarder les joueurs entrer sur le terrain sentirA1 to feel je sens la colère monter voirA1 to see je l'ai vu tomber observerA2 to watch observer les oiseaux construire leur nid regarderA2 to watch regarder les enfants courir
How it works

The basic pattern is: perception verb + the person or thing you perceive + infinitive. The infinitive describes what that person or thing is doing.

Je vois le bus arriver.
(I see the bus coming.)

English also allows an infinitive without to after some of these verbs: I saw her leave, I heard the door close. If that English version sounds natural, the French is easy. If English prefers laughing or coming, French still uses the infinitive: rire, arriver.

When the perceived person is a pronoun, the pronoun goes before the perception verb, not before the infinitive:

Je l'entends chanter sous la douche.
(I can hear him singing in the shower.)

With a noun, you can also put the infinitive first, especially when it has no object of its own: j'entends les oiseaux chanter or j'entends chanter les oiseaux. Both mean the same thing.

The words

Voir is the most common member. It works in every tense, and it is very frequent in the passé composé for things you witnessed.

Je l'ai vue partir vers huit heures.
(I saw her leave around eight o'clock.)

Entendre is used for sounds you notice, often without trying to.

J'ai entendu la porte se fermer.
(I heard the door close.)

Écouter is used for sounds you pay attention to on purpose.

J'aime écouter la pluie tomber le soir.
(I like listening to the rain fall in the evening.)

Regarder covers both looking at something and watching it for a while, including watching a match or a show.

Elle regarde le soleil se coucher.
(She watches the sun set.)
On a regardé les joueurs entrer sur le terrain.
(We watched the players come onto the pitch.)
Les parents regardent les enfants courir dans le parc.
(The parents are watching the children run in the park.)

Observer is more careful and patient, like a scientist or a birdwatcher.

Nous observons les oiseaux construire leur nid.
(We are watching the birds build their nest.)

Sentir, in the sense of feeling or sensing something, works the same way for physical sensations and emotions.

J'ai senti le sol trembler.
(I felt the ground shake.)
Je sens la colère monter.
(I can feel the anger rising.)

Other verbs like apercevoir (to catch sight of) follow the same pattern too.

Watch out

The most typical mistake is adding something between the object and the infinitive. Say je vois les enfants jouer, never je vois les enfants à jouer or de jouer. And do not try to copy the English -ing form with a French word ending in -ant: j'entends les enfants riant sounds wrong.

A phrase with qui is also correct French, and is common in speech: je vois les enfants qui jouent. But the infinitive is shorter and very natural, so it is a good default.

Remember that regarder and écouter take a direct object, just like the rest of the group. English says look at and listen to, but French adds nothing: regarder la pluie tomber, écouter les oiseaux chanter.

Finally, sentir only follows this pattern when someone is perceiving something. When it means that something gives off a smell, as in ça sent bon, there is no infinitive.

Summary

To say that you see, hear, watch, listen to or feel someone doing something, use the perception verb, then the person or thing, then a plain infinitive: je vois le bus arriver, je l'entends chanter. Use no preposition and no -ing form, and put pronouns before the perception verb.