Page 361 - Basic Japanese

7.12. 見える mieru and 聞こえる kikoeru

The verb miru means ‘sees’; the related verb mieru means

either ‘is seen, appears’ or ‘can see.’ The verb kiku means
‘hears’ or ‘listens’ (kiku also means ‘asks’); the related verb

kikoeru means ‘is heard, is audible’ or ‘can hear.’ The verbs

miru and kiku may be preceded by an object marked by the
particle o: eiga o mimashita ‘I saw a movie,’ rajio o kikimashita ‘I

listened to the radio.’ The verbs mieru and kikoeru are never

preceded by the particle o. Instead, you use the particles wa
and ga, depending on the emphasis. If the meaning is ‘can

see, can hear,’ the person who can see or hear usually takes
the particle wa, and the thing seen or heard takes the

particle ga.

このうちの２階の窓から富士山が見えます。

Kono uchi no ni-kai no mado kara Fujisan ga miemasu.
Mt. Fuji is visible from the second-floor windows

of this house.

あの看板の字が見えるんですか。
Ano kanban no ji ga mieru n desu ka.

Is it true that you can see the letters on that
sign?

あれ。足音がします。聞こえますか。
Are. Ashi oto ga shimasu. Kikoemasu ka.
Oh, I can hear footsteps. Can you hear them?

聞こえません。もう少し大きい声で話してください。
Kikoemasen. Mō sukoshi ōkii koe de hanashite kudasai.

I can’t hear you. Could you speak up?