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聞ける (きける, kikeru) Japanese meaning: to tell | Kotomora
Freq. Frequency Top 5,000 Conjugation 聞ける · ichidan verb
Form Positive Negative Dictionary 聞き ける 聞き けない Polite 聞き けます 聞き けません Past polite 聞き けました 聞き けませんでした Past 聞き けた 聞き けなかった Te-form 聞き けて 聞き けないで Desire 聞き けたい 聞き けたくない Potential 聞き けられる also 聞き けれる 聞き けられない also 聞き けれない Passive 聞き けられる 聞き けられない Causative 聞き けさせる 聞き けさせない Causative passive 聞き けさせられる 聞き けさせられない Volitional 聞き けよう Polite volitional 聞き けましょう Imperative 聞き けろ 聞き けるな Conditional 聞き ければ 聞き けなければ Tara conditional 聞き けたら 聞き けなかったら
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The old man told stories of his travels.
Don't confuse with 聞く means 'to hear/ask' and its potential form is also written 聞ける, so learners easily mistake this archaic 'to tell' verb for that modern potential form.
聞ける is the potential form of 聞く and means 'can listen to/ask', whereas 聞こえる describes something becoming audible on its own, without anyone's effort.
Written forms 聞き ける Usage 81%
Standard kanji spelling for the potential form of 聞く, meaning 'can hear' or 'can ask'. This word is for the archaic transitive verb 'to tell'.
きける Usage 19%
Kana spelling may be used to avoid confusion with the potential form of 聞く.
Etymology Archaic transitive verb derived from the same root as 聞く (to hear), but with a causative or transitive sense 'to make hear' → 'to tell'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.
