# To listen (+ prep.)



## Welsh_Sion

Anybody want to add to this list? Adding the English equivalents (as this seems our universal language here) would also highlight the differences. Thanks.

English -* to listen to*
Welsh -* gwrando ar *(to listen on)
French -* écouter Ø* (to listen Ø)


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## TheCrociato91

Italian - *ascoltare Ø* (to listen Ø)


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## jazyk

Portuguese - escutar Ø (to listen Ø)


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## Perseas

Greek lacks infinitive, so I'll use the first person singular present indicative:
*ακούω  Ø * (to listen Ø)
Ex. Ακούω μουσική (to listen to music)
[akúo musikí] 

But there's also the structure *ακούω (κάποιον) να + verb* , eg. to listen (someone) + ing form of a verb.


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## Circunflejo

Spanish:
Escuchar Ø (to listen) (something)
Escuchar a (to listen to) (someone)


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## Awwal12

The basic Russian verb слушать (slúshat') takes only direct objects (+ acc.).
Still it has various derivates with more nuanced and/or modified meanings, which can take prepositional phrases as objects.
E.g. прислушиваться к (prislúshivat'sya k) +dat. - to listen closely to sth (lit. ~towards-listen-oneself to...);
or вслушиваться в (vslúshivat'sya v) + acc. with a similar meaning (but limited to inanimate nouns decribing sounds, lit. ~inlisten-oneself in...).


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## ThomasK

Dutch: 
*- luisteren naar *(mostly, there is a tendency towards a version without naar)... 
- *beluisteren *is the same but more formal, not perfectly interchangeable: in most case the be- replaces some kind of "on" (antwwoorden op W>> beantwoorden, spelen op > bespelen and thus turns a V + prep LOCA  into a transitive verb, but containing some idea of controlling, mastering, etc.


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## Dymn

Circunflejo said:


> Spanish:
> Escuchar Ø (to listen) (something)
> Escuchar a (to listen to) (someone)


This is misleading because you will always have the preposition "_a_" when introducing an animate direct object in Spanish. Like you would say "_matar a alguien_" ("to kill to somebody"). But the syntax is just like French or Portuguese (it's a transitive verb).

Catalan: _*escoltar Ø* (to listen Ø) _


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## ThomasK

I do not know whether this is relevant, but I am fairly sure that _*é-couter *_and_* es-cuchar *_consist of a prefix and a stem. Just like *auscultare*… The prefix might (might, might) be a preposition into the verb. But I'll check on that… 

However: auscult- is supposed to be based on _*auris*_, ear, or that is what Etymonline.com tells us. Ecouter might be based on a suffix though, if I get crntl.fr well.


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## Dymn

What I understand is that _auscultare_ was simplified to _ascultare_ in Vulgar Latin (which is the modern Italian form), whereas Western Romance languages interpreted the initial syllable as the more common prefix _es- _(which then changed to _é-_ in Modern French)_,_ as if derived from _*scultare._

Compare _obscurus_ which rendered _oscuro_ in Spanish but _escuro_ in Portuguese.


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## ThomasK

OK, yes: interpreted as ..., I had not got that...


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## Circunflejo

Dymn said:


> This is misleading because you will always have the preposition "_a_" when introducing an animate direct object in Spanish.


 Yes, that's right.


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian *
hallgat + accusative
hallgat + valakire ("on somebody") -- it means you listen to someone & what's more you follow his advice.


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## velisarius

Perseas said:


> Greek lacks infinitive, so I'll use the first person singular present indicative:
> *ακούω  Ø * (to listen Ø)
> Ex. Ακούω μουσική (to listen to music)
> [akúo musikí]
> 
> But there's also the structure *ακούω (κάποιον) να + verb* , eg. to listen (someone) + ing form of a verb.


Just noting that Greek is one of the languages that don't make the _hear _v _listen to_ distinction. Or is it that English is one of the few languages that do make the distinction? I've no idea


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## Awwal12

velisarius said:


> Just noting that Greek is one of the languages that don't make the _hear _v _listen to_ distinction. Or is it that English is one of the few languages that do make the distinction? I've no idea


Certainly English isn't one of the few languages here. While the concepts are often expressed by morphologically related verbs (in Russian and many other Slavic languages, in Arabic etc.), contrasting them is pretty common.


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## Perseas

velisarius said:


> Just noting that Greek is one of the languages that don't make the _hear _v _listen to_ distinction.


True.


Awwal12 said:


> Certainly English isn't one of the few languages here. While the concepts are often expressed by morphologically related verbs (in Russian and many other Slavic languages, in Arabic etc.), contrasting them is pretty common.


I'd like also to know if this is the case for the Romance languages or other languages that are mentioned here.


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## Dymn

In European Portuguese, _escutar_ is not a very common verb and _ouvir_ is usually used for both concepts.
In Spanish, you will never be wrong if _escuchar _= to listen, _oír_ = to hear, but you will often find _escuchar_ to be used for the other meaning.
In Catalan, the distinction (_escoltar = _to listen, _sentir _= to hear) is well kept except for people who are the most influenced by Spanish.


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## jazyk

Dymn said:


> In European Portuguese, _escutar_ is not a very common verb and _ouvir_ is usually used for both concepts.


I can see more than a hundred occurrences of this verb in this Portuguese newspaper: escutar site:dn.pt - Google Search


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## Dymn

I haven't said it's archaic or rare, just not that common. I think most Portuguese people would say "_ouvir música_", not "_escutar música_", for example. Some threads in the Portuguese forum.


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## jazyk

I find it common enough.

Brazilians would also mostly say ouvir música.


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## Welsh_Sion

*Welsh

clywed Ø* - to hear s.o./sth.
*gwrando ar* - to listen to s.o./sth.


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## symposium

In Italian:
ascoltare = to listen ("sto ascoltando una canzone" = "I'm listening to a song")
sentire = to hear ("ho sentito un rumore" = "I heard a noise")
One verb cannot substitute the other.


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## AndrasBP

Welsh_Sion said:


> English -* to listen to*
> Welsh -* gwrando ar *(to listen on)
> French -* écouter Ø* (to listen Ø)


Hungarian - *hallgat *+ accusative suffix *-t *(Péter Beethoven*t* hallgat. = Peter listens to Beethoven.)



velisarius said:


> Just noting that Greek is one of the languages that don't make the _hear _v _listen to_ distinction. Or is it that English is one of the few languages that do make the distinction? I've no idea





Awwal12 said:


> While the concepts are often expressed by morphologically related verbs (in Russian and many other Slavic languages, in Arabic etc.), contrasting them is pretty common.


Yes, the two concepts are expressed by related verbs in Hungarian (_hall _= hear vs. _hallgat _= listen) and German (_hören _= hear vs. _zuhören _= listen), but not in Baltic languages (Lithuanian _girdėti_, Latvian _dzirdēt _= hear vs. Lith. _klausyti_, Latv. _klausīt _= listen).


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## Frank78

German:

"to-listen":  zuhören (people and other living beings), e.g. "dem Redner zuhören" (listen to an orator)
"on-listen":  anhören (abstract things like a presentation/music), e.g. "sich die Rede anhören" (listen to an oration)


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