How do you say "listen" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "listen" is 聴く (kiku). It is a verb pronounced "kee-koo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

聴く is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as kiku, it sounds roughly like "kee-koo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

一緒に聴きますか?

Issho ni kikimasu ka?

Shall we to listen together?

Usage notes

聴く means to listen in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (聴きます) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 聴く

How do you pronounce 聴く?

聴く is romanised as kiku. Say it roughly like "kee-koo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 聴く formal or casual?

聴く is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 聴く written in Japanese?

聴く is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

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.