聞こえます（きこえます、kikoemasu）
- to be heard

聞こえます means "I can hear," "can be heard," or "it is audible." It describes the ability to perceive sound or the state of sound being detectable. It implies that sound reaches your ears and you are able to process it. It focuses on the action of sound reaching the listener, not necessarily the active act of listening. It is the potential to hear, rather than the act of listening itself. Think of it as "sounds are reaching my ears." 聞こえます often implies a passive reception of sound.

⚫︎鳥の声が聞こえます。 Translation: I can hear the birds singing. ⚫︎音楽が聞こえますか？ Translation: Can you hear the music? ⚫︎遠くから波の音が聞こえます。 Translation: I can hear the sound of waves from afar.

⚫︎ Use 聞こえます when describing sounds that you are able to perceive. ⚫︎ Use it when asking if someone can hear something. ⚫︎ Use it when the focus is on the sound reaching your ears, not on actively listening. ⚫︎ It’s often used in situations where the sound is background noise or something you're passively aware of. ⚫︎ Common in everyday conversation to indicate the presence or absence of sound.

⚫︎ 聞こえます is written in hiragana as きこえます. ⚫︎ The kanji form is 聞こえます. * The kanji for 聞 is used. ⚫︎ The verb is typically written with hiragana, especially in casual contexts. ⚫︎ 聞こえ is the stem, and ます is the polite present/future tense ending. * The negative form is 聞こえません "cannot hear" * The past tense is 聞こえました "could hear" * The potential form is 聞こえる.

⚫︎ There aren't direct synonyms for 聞こえます, as it describes a specific physiological function of hearing. ⚫︎ Related words that might express a similar idea: * 聞く - to listen, to hear (more active listening) * 耳に入る - to come to one's ears

⚫︎ 聞こえません - cannot hear ⚫︎ 聞こえない - cannot hear (casual)

ラジオから音楽が聞こえます。 ・Translation: I can hear music from the radio. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 聞こえます to describe the ability to hear the music coming from the radio.

何か聞こえましたか？ ・Translation: Did you hear something? ・Explanation: This is a question to check if someone perceived a sound.

⚫︎ The word is a combination of the verb 聞く ("to hear," "to listen") and the potential form marker -える. ⚫︎ 聞く + -(e)ru (potential form) -> 聞ける ⚫︎ Then polite form 聞けます -> 聞こえます