Structure
Noun + が + 聞こえる
［い］Adjective［く］+ 聞こえる
［な］Adjective + に + 聞こえる
Noun + に + 聞こえる
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About 聞こえる
聞こえる is a verb that is often used to describe things that can be heard, or the way in which something is heard. Because of this, the most common translations of this verb are 'to be audible', or 'to sound like (A)'. 聞こえる is an intransitive verb, and literally means 'to give off sound'.
When using 聞こえる, (A) will always be followed by が. (A) is considered to be the 'source' of the sound (a noun). However, the 'way that something sounds' will be marked adverbially. This means that an い-Adjective will be changed to its く form, and な-Adjectives/nouns will be followed by に.
Fun Fact
The primary difference between 聞こえる, and 聞ける (the potential form of 聞く), is that 聞こえる is used to identify things that do not require the active concentration of the listener to be heard. In other words, ambient noise. However, 聞ける is used when the speaker is trying to concentrate on some specific sound, and refers to their 'ability' to hear it.
Related
Examples
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「今のノック聞こえた？」
「ううん、聞こえなかったよ。空耳じゃない？」
'Did you hear a knock just now?'
'Nope, I didn't hear it. Aren't you hearing things?'
「西山さんは生まれつき耳が聞こえないんです。」
'Nishiyama has been deaf since birth.'
隣のせきくんはうるさすぎるわよ。彼が音楽を聴くときいつもあたしのアパートに聞こえるわ！
My neighbor Seki is too loud! Whenever he listens to music, I can hear it in my flat!
「教師の声が小さすぎるから何も聞こえないんだよ。」
'The teacher is too quiet, so I cannot hear anything.'
「外がうるさいからテレビの音がよく聞こえない。」
'Since it is loud outside, I cannot hear the TV very well.'
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Breakdown and examples
JapaneseTest4You
History of 聞こえる and its uses
BriefJapanese
Potential form
Tae Kim
Spontaneity
Imabi
Offline
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
page 188
Genki II 2nd Edition
page 83
Tae Kim Japanese Grammar Guide
page 126
TRY! N4
page 32
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聞こえる – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (8 in total)
rexd
The grammar page says “Noun + が + 聞こえる”, but “今のノック____た？” dinged me for “が 聞こえ”. It just wanted “今のノック聞きこえた” Can someone help me wrap my brain around this one? I assumed ノック is a noun.
okayfrog
I’m wondering about this as well. Doesn’t make any sense.
Fuga
Hey @rexd !
ノック is a noun, so we have added がきこえた as an accepted answer.
Although が should be used there, when 聞こえた is simply used as ‘hear’ in a casual conversation, it can be omitted.
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