How do you say "listen" in Japanese?

聞く

kiku

Verb Kanji

In Japanese, "listen" is 聞く (kiku).

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Pronunciation

Kiku is two short crisp syllables, ki and ku, said quickly together, almost like the English word 'kick' without the hard ending.

Writing and usage

聞く is written using kanji. It's a verb, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.

Example sentence

仕事中に音楽を聴いています。

shigotochuu ni ongaku wo kii teimasu.

I listen to music while I work.

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How to remember 聞く

Kiku sounds like 'kick, u', though the better image is cupping your ear, straining to kiku, to listen closely.

Related words

Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.

Questions about 聞く

How do you pronounce 聞く?

Kiku is two short crisp syllables, ki and ku, said quickly together, almost like the English word 'kick' without the hard ending.

Is 聞く formal or casual?

聞く is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 聞く written in Japanese?

聞く is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as kiku.

Where can I practice Japanese words for free?

You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Listen" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

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