What is the Kanji for "Listen"?

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for "Listen", you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for "Listen" is "聞".

This kanji has 3 readings:

Its kunyomi reading is "Ki".

Its onyomi readings are "Bun" and "Mon".

kunyomi readings are based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words, and onyomi readings are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character.

If you visually breakdown this kanji, you can see is made up of 2 parts:

The kanji "門" means "Gate" and can be read as "Mon" and "Kado". And The kanji "耳" means "Ear" and can be read as "Mimi" and "Ji".

Now, let's make sure you understand this kanji the other way around too.

What does the kanji "聞" mean in japanese?

"聞" means "Listen".

Japanese School Students learn this kanji in Second Grade, while foreigners may learn this kanji in preparation for the JLPT N5 exam.

Here are some words that use this kanji:

聞く: "Hear" or "Ask". The Japanese verb '聞く (きく)' has two main meanings. The first meaning is 'to hear', as in to perceive a sound or to listen. For example: I hear the birds singing - (鳥の歌声が聞こえる). The second meaning is 'to ask', as in to pose a question to someone. For example: Can you ask them for me? - (彼らに聞いてくれませんか?)

新聞: "Newspaper". The Japanese noun '新聞 (しんぶん)' means 'newspaper'. This word refers to a printed publication containing news, articles, advertisements, and other information, typically published daily or weekly. Newspapers are an important source of news and information in Japan. For example: I read the newspaper every morning - (私は毎朝新聞を読みます). The newspaper article was very interesting - (その新聞の記事は非常に興味深かった).

聞こえる: "Hear" or "Sound". The Japanese verb '聞こえる (きこえる)' has two main meanings: 'to hear' and 'to sound'. When used to mean 'to hear', it indicates that one is able to perceive a sound or noise. For example: I can hear the birds singing - (鳥の歌声が聞こえる). When used to mean 'to sound', it describes the quality or nature of a sound. For example: This music sounds good - (この音楽は良く聞こえる).

聞き手: "Listener". The noun '聞き手 (ききて)' refers to a person who is listening or paying attention to what someone is saying. It is often used in the context of conversation, interviews, or presentations to refer to the person or people receiving the information being conveyed. For example: The listener nodded in agreement - (聞き手は同意してうなずいた). The speaker addressed the listeners - (話し手は聞き手に語りかけた).

新聞社: "Newspaper company". The Japanese noun '新聞社 (しんぶんしゃ)' refers to a 'newspaper company' or 'news organization'. It is used to describe a business that publishes and distributes newspapers. These companies employ journalists, editors, and other staff to research, write, and publish news articles. For example: The newspaper company published an important article - (新聞社は重要な記事を掲載した).

聞き取り: "Comprehension". The noun '聞き取り (ききとり)' means 'comprehension'. It refers to the ability to understand and grasp the meaning of something, especially through listening or hearing. This word is used to describe the process of carefully listening and interpreting speech or audio information. For example: I had difficulty comprehending the lecture - (講義の聞き取りが難しかった). Good comprehension skills are important for language learning - (言語学習には聞き取りの力が大切だ).

聞かす: "Make hear". The Japanese verb '聞かす (きかす)' means 'to make hear'. It is a causative form of the verb '聞く (きく)' which means 'to hear'. '聞かす' is used when someone causes another person or thing to hear something. For example: The teacher made the students hear the lesson - (先生は生徒に授業を聞かせた). Please make your dog hear your command - (あなたの犬に命令を聞かせてください).

To make really sure you learn this Kanji, I've prepared an interactive lesson for you. You are going to learn the readings and meanings of this kanji.

But first, you need to know a little bit about Hiragana and Katakana.

Hiragana and katakana are japanese syllabaries, this means that each character represents a syllable.

This are the characters you need to know for this lesson:

The hiragana "き" is read as "ki". The hiragana "ぶ" is read as "bu". The hiragana "ん" is read as "n". And The hiragana "も" is read as "mo".

Heres a quick tutorial on how to use it. You'll be asked three type of questions: meaning, reading, and writing.

For meanings questions all you have to do is type the english meaning. If there is more than one meaning, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Reading questions you have to type the reading in romaji (roman letters, our normal alphabet) and it'll be automatically converted to hiragana if necessary. If there is more than one reading, you have to include them all in your answer separating them by commas (,).

For Writing questions some options will appear and all you have to do is select the correct ones.