Kanji 聞: hear, ask, listen

Key takeaways

Kanji 聞: hear, ask, listen. Readings and core meaning.

See vocabulary and examples below.

Kanji at a glance

聞

Meaning

hearasklisten

On reading

ブンモン

Kun reading

き.くき.こえる

Radical

耳

Core meaning / core image

Core meaning: 聞

hear, ask, listen

Kanji structure breakdown

聞

Structure breakdown

門 + 耳

Mnemonic story

Imagine pressing your ear (耳) against a gate (門) to listen to what is happening inside. This character represents the act of hearing, listening, or asking questions.

On'yomi and kun'yomi

On reading

ブン

新聞社しんぶんしゃ
newspaper company
新聞しんぶん
newspaper

Kun reading

き.く

聞こえるきこえる
to be heard / can hear
聞くきく
to listen / to hear / to ask

Commonly used words

新聞社
しんぶんしゃ
newspaper company
新聞
しんぶん
newspaper
聞こえる
きこえる
to be heard / can hear
聞く
きく
to listen / to hear / to ask

Example sentences

Example 1

日本語の聞き取りは難しいです。

Translation

Listening comprehension in Japanese is difficult.

Example 2

聞き取りテストで90点をとりました。

Translation

I scored 90 points on the listening test.

Example 3

遠くで犬の声が聞こえる。

Translation

I can hear a dog barking in the distance.

Example 4

先生の話がよく聞こえません。

Translation

I can't hear the teacher's explanation well.

Kanji 聞: hear, ask, listen

Kanji at a glance

Core meaning / core image

Kanji structure breakdown

Mnemonic story

On'yomi and kun'yomi

On reading

Kun reading

Commonly used words

Example sentences

聞き取り (ききとり): meaning and examples

聞こえる (きこえる): meaning and examples

新聞社 (しんぶんしゃ): meaning and examples

聞く (きく): meaning and examples

新聞 (しんぶん): meaning and examples