文法の説明

N4 レッスン 4: 16/18

聞(き)こえるTo be audible, To sound (like), (Can) hear, To be heard

聞こえる was originally a conjugation of 聞く、but nowadays it is treated as a standalone intransitive verb

使い方・接続

Noun + が + 聞(き)こえる
［い］Adjective［く］+ 聞(き)こえる
［な］Adjective + に + 聞(き)こえる
Noun + に + 聞(き)こえる

詳細

  • 使用域

    一般

「聞こえる」の情報

聞(き)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(き)こえる is an intransitive verb, and literally means 'to give off sound'.

When using 聞(き)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(き)こえる, and 聞(き)ける (the potential form of 聞(き)く), is that 聞(き)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(き)ける is used when the speaker is trying to concentrate on some specific sound, and refers to their 'ability' to hear it.

関連

例文

--:--

    「今(いま)のノック聞(き)こえた？」
    「ううん、聞(き)こえなかったよ。空耳(そらみみ)じゃない？」

    'Did you hear a knock just now?'
    'Nope, I didn't hear it. Aren't you hearing things?'

    「西山(にしやま)さんは生(う)まれつき耳(みみ)が聞(き)こえないんです。」

    'Nishiyama has been deaf since birth.'

    隣(となり)のせきくんはうるさすぎるわよ。彼(かれ)が音楽(おんがく)を聴(き)くときいつもあたしのアパートに聞(き)こえるわ！

    My neighbor Seki is too loud! Whenever he listens to music, I can hear it in my flat!

    「教師(きょうし)の声(こえ)が小(ちい)さすぎるから何(なに)も聞(き)こえないんだよ。」

    'The teacher is too quiet, so I cannot hear anything.'

    「外(そと)がうるさいからテレビの音(おと)がよく聞(き)こえない。」

    'Since it is loud outside, I cannot hear the TV very well.'

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「聞こえる」に関する文法ディスカッション

最近の返信 (合計8件)

  • Pushindawood

    Pushindawood

    To be audible
    to sound (like)
    (can) hear
    to be heard

    Structure

    • Noun + が + 聞こえる
    • い-Adj. + いく + 聞こえる
    • な-Adj. + に + 聞こえる
    • Noun + に + 聞こえる

    聞こえる was originally a conjugation of 聞く, but nowadays it is treated as a standalone intransitive verb.

    [聞こえる is an intransitive verb, meaning “to be audible”]

    [聞こえる is used to express that something is heard spontaneously, without the active effort/will of the speaker - it is unavoidable to hear it]

    [In other words, it can be used in situations where the sound can be heard easily without focusing on it, or when it is so loud that the speaker hears it regardless of their will to hear it...

  • testing

    testing

    I guess those are exceptions to " 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)." because “耳が聞こえない” is an expression? I was a bit confused there, because in both cases it’s not the 耳 that are the source of the sound, despite being marked with が.

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    You might as well learn 耳が聞こえる as an expression, together with 目が見える.

    Sometimes 聞こえる・見える are contrasted with 聞ける・見られる in terms of the former expressing potential based on ability, and the latter expressing potential based on circumstances. That way we can avoid the expressions being an exception. I’m not sure it’s actually an easier or better explanation, just a very common one.

    From the original bunpro explanation that’s still in the top comment in this thread:

  • testing

    testing

    Thanks for the explanations! I am not sure I actually know about “spontaneous action/things that happen naturally (自発)” yet, so… I got something new to look up too

  • bokudake

    bokudake

    「この店の中だと何も聞こえないけど、階段を上がってロビーに行けば、電話がよく聞こえるよ。」
    ‘I can’t hear anything inside this shop, but if I go upstairs to the lobby, I can hear you well on the phone.’

    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.

    I have some difficulty distinguishing the two in this example. I thought when you’re on the phone you’re activelly concentrating to hear the person you’re speaking with; it’s an intentional action, not random sound coming in. Not like the background sound of a creek for example which might be audible, but you’re not activelly trying to hear it.

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    The distinction is difficult to translate 1:1 to English but “audible” vs “can listen” is going in the right direction. When I’m on the phone with someone, or more realistically, in an online meeting, I might ask “Can you hear me?” in English. This would be “聞こえる？” too. I’m asking whether the sound safely makes it to the other end. I’m not asking if they can listen to me like they’d listen to music.

  • rexd

    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

    okayfrog

    I’m wondering about this as well. Doesn’t make any sense.

  • Fuga

    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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