English hear is the misleading cue in this choice. Hindi सुनना presents an animate participant as the hearer or listener: someone hears a sound, listens to music, or pays attention to speech. सुनाई देना presents the sound as audible to an experiencer: it carries through the wall, comes over the phone, or reaches someone's ears. Compare मैंने घंटी सुनी “I heard the bell” with मुझे घंटी सुनाई दी “The bell was audible to me.”
सुनना can describe involuntary hearing as well as deliberate listening, so “intentional versus accidental” is not a complete rule. The dependable distinction is syntactic viewpoint. For the full paradigm and object agreement of सुनना, see the सुनना reference page.
The core contrast
| Choice | What the clause centers | Core syntax | Typical interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| सुनना | the hearer/listener and their auditory experience | hearer + object + सुनना; perfective hearer takes ने | hear, listen to, heed |
| सुनाई देना | the sound and whether it reaches an experiencer | sound + experiencer को + सुनाई देना | be audible, come through, be heard |
मैंने गलियारे में घंटी सुनी।
maĩne galiyāre meṃ ghaṇṭī sunī.
I heard a bell in the corridor.
मुझे गलियारे से घंटी सुनाई दी।
mujhe galiyāre se ghaṇṭī sunāī dī.
A bell was audible to me from the corridor.
The two sentences can report the same event. The first answers “What did you hear?” The second answers “What sound came through?” or “Could anything be heard?” Their case and agreement patterns reveal that difference.
A compact decision tree
- Is someone listening deliberately—to music, advice, a message, or another person? Use सुनना.
- Are you simply reporting that a hearer perceived a sound? Use सुनना if that hearer's experience remains the subject-centered event.
- Are you testing audibility, signal quality, volume, distance, or acoustic access? Use सुनाई देना.
- Did a sound suddenly reach someone or become perceptible? Perfective सुनाई दिया/दी is especially natural.
- Does English “hear” mean “learn from reports”? Use evidential सुना है कि..., a use of सुनना, not सुनाई देना.
The choice is not determined by animacy alone: both frames normally involve an animate experiencer. What differs is grammatical case, agreement, aspectual viewpoint, and the speaker's discourse purpose.
सुनना: hearing, listening, and heeding
सुनना is transitive. In the imperfective, the hearer is an unmarked subject. In the canonical perfective, the hearer takes ने. An unmarked auditory object can control perfective agreement; a को-marked specific person blocks it.
रिया काम करते समय संगीत सुनती है।
riyā kām karte samay saṅgīt suntī hai.
Riya listens to music while working.
हमने बाहर अजीब आवाज़ सुनी।
hamne bāhar ajīb āvāz sunī.
We heard a strange sound outside.
मैंने उस गायक को पहली बार मंच पर सुना।
maĩne us gāyak ko pahlī bār mañc par sunā.
I heard that singer on stage for the first time.
Feminine आवाज़ controls सुनी in the second example. In the third, particular human उस गायक को is marked with को, so the verb has default masculine singular सुना.
Deliberate listening is often clarified by ध्यान से “attentively,” while mere perception follows from the context.
पहले मेरी पूरी बात ध्यान से सुनिए।
pahle merī pūrī bāt dhyān se sunie.
Please listen carefully to everything I have to say first. (respectful)
Because सुनना can assign attention, क्या आप मेरी बात सुन रहे हैं? may mean more than a technical sound check. It can challenge whether the addressee is paying attention.
सुनाई देना: audibility and acoustic access
सुनाई देना contains an invariant element सुनाई followed by finite देना. The sound or auditory stimulus is the grammatical subject and controls agreement. The experiencer appears in a को form: मुझे, तुम्हें, उसे, हमें, आपको, उन्हें.
क्या आपको मेरी आवाज़ साफ़ सुनाई दे रही है?
kyā āpko merī āvāz sāf sunāī de rahī hai?
Can you hear my voice clearly? (respectful sound check)
बंद कमरे से धीमा संगीत सुनाई दे रहा था।
band kamre se dhīmā saṅgīt sunāī de rahā thā.
Faint music could be heard from the closed room.
रात को ऊपर से क़दमों की आवाज़ें सुनाई दीं।
rāt ko ūpar se qadmoṃ kī āvāzeṃ sunāī dīṃ.
At night, the sound of footsteps was heard from upstairs.
Feminine singular आवाज़ gives दे रही है; masculine singular संगीत gives दे रहा था; feminine plural आवाज़ें gives perfective दीं. The dative experiencer आपको never controls that agreement.
An experiencer need not be expressed. पीछे से शोर सुनाई दे रहा है means “Noise can be heard from behind.” This impersonal-looking form is useful when the speaker wants to report an acoustic fact rather than foreground who hears it.
Minimal pairs with the vocabulary held constant
मैंने उसका आख़िरी वाक्य नहीं सुना।
maĩne uskā āxirī vākya nahīṃ sunā.
I didn't hear/listen to his last sentence.
मुझे उसका आख़िरी वाक्य सुनाई नहीं दिया।
mujhe uskā āxirī vākya sunāī nahīṃ diyā.
His last sentence wasn't audible to me.
The first can leave the cause open: perhaps the hearer was distracted, perhaps the sound was weak. The second directly locates the problem in auditory access. It is therefore a tactful way to report a connection or volume problem without suggesting that the speaker ignored someone.
बच्चों ने बाहर पटाखे सुने।
baccoṃ ne bāhar paṭākhe sune.
The children heard firecrackers outside.
बच्चों को बाहर पटाखे सुनाई दिए।
baccoṃ ko bāhar paṭākhe sunāī die.
The children could hear firecrackers outside.
Plural पटाखे controls सुने as an unmarked object of सुनना and दिए as the subject of सुनाई देना. The surface agreement happens to be plural in both, but the case on बच्चों exposes the opposite syntactic structures.
Ability and successful perception
English can hear is ambiguous. सुन सकता हूँ emphasizes the hearer's capacity or practical ability; सुनाई दे रहा है emphasizes that the sound is currently reaching the hearer. सुन पाया reports that hearing was achieved under the circumstances.
मैं ऊँची आवाज़ें सुन सकता हूँ, लेकिन धीमी आवाज़ें नहीं।
maĩ ū̃cī āvāzeṃ sun saktā hū̃, lekin dhīmī āvāzeṃ nahīṃ.
I can hear loud sounds, but not quiet ones. (male speaker; capacity)
शोर के बावजूद मैं घोषणा सुन पाया।
śor ke bāvajūd maĩ ghoṣṇā sun pāyā.
Despite the noise, I managed to hear the announcement. (male speaker)
अब घोषणा साफ़ सुनाई दे रही है।
ab ghoṣṇā sāf sunāī de rahī hai.
The announcement is coming through clearly now.
These are not interchangeable stylistic variants. The first is about sensory capacity, the second about successful attainment, and the third about present audibility.
A dialogue where wording changes social tone
अ: क्या आप मेरी बात सुन रहे हैं? ब: जी, ध्यान से सुन रहा हूँ।
a: kyā āp merī bāt sun rahe haiṃ? ba: jī, dhyān se sun rahā hū̃.
A: Are you listening to me? B: Yes, I'm listening carefully. (respectful)
अ: क्या मेरी आवाज़ सुनाई दे रही है? ब: अब साफ़ सुनाई दे रही है।
a: kyā merī āvāz sunāī de rahī hai? ba: ab sāf sunāī de rahī hai.
A: Can you hear my voice? B: It's coming through clearly now. (respectful sound check)
The first question tests attention and can sound reproachful after someone looks away. The second tests the channel and does not blame the addressee. English “Can you hear me?” can serve either purpose, so translating that English cue mechanically risks an unintended social tone.
Core सुनना and सुनाई देना are neutral in register. Technical prose may use श्रव्य होना “be audible” (formal/academic), but everyday sound checks use सुनाई देना.
Common Mistakes
Giving सुनाई देना an ergative hearer
❌ मैंने बाहर घंटी सुनाई दी।
Incorrect — सुनाई देना marks the experiencer with को, not ने.
✅ मुझे बाहर घंटी सुनाई दी।
mujhe bāhar ghaṇṭī sunāī dī.
I heard a bell outside.
Letting the experiencer control agreement
❌ मुझे दो आवाज़ें सुनाई दिया।
Incorrect — feminine plural आवाज़ें control perfective दीं.
✅ मुझे दो आवाज़ें सुनाई दीं।
mujhe do āvāzeṃ sunāī dīṃ.
I heard two voices/sounds.
Mixing the two case frames
❌ क्या आपको मेरी आवाज़ सुन रहे हैं?
Incorrect — dative आपको cannot serve as the subject of transitive सुन रहे हैं; use the audibility frame.
✅ क्या आपको मेरी आवाज़ सुनाई दे रही है?
kyā āpko merī āvāz sunāī de rahī hai?
Can you hear my voice? (respectful sound check)
Translating English “listen to” with को
❌ मैं रोज़ संगीत को सुनती हूँ।
Overmarked in the neutral meaning — ordinary music is an unmarked object of सुनना.
✅ मैं रोज़ संगीत सुनती हूँ।
maĩ roz saṅgīt suntī hū̃.
I listen to music every day. (female speaker)
Diagnostic checklist
- Is the sentence about a hearer's listening, attention, or auditory experience? Use सुनना.
- Is it about whether a sound is audible through noise, distance, a wall, or a device? Use सुनाई देना.
- Does the perfective hearer take ने, with an object controlling agreement when unmarked? That is सुनना.
- Does the experiencer take को, with the sound controlling दिया/दी/दिए/दीं? That is सुनाई देना.
- Does English “Can you hear me?” test attention or test the signal? Translate the intended social action, not the words alone.
The lasting distinction is viewpoint: सुनना organizes the event around the person who hears or listens, while सुनाई देना organizes it around what the acoustic environment makes audible.
Key Takeaways
- सुनना centers the hearer or listener and uses ordinary transitive syntax.
- सुनाई देना centers an audible stimulus, marks the experiencer with को, and agrees with that stimulus.
- English “Can you hear me?” must be resolved as a question about attention or about acoustic access.
Related Topics
- सुनना sunnā: to hear and listenA1 — Reference सुनना across auditory perception, attentive listening, evidential reports, object agreement, and causative सुनाना.
- Dative experiencer subjectsB1 — Analyze Hindi experiencer clauses with को-marked participants, local agreement, lexical case frames, and clear scope across clause boundaries.
- Transitive perfective with नेA2 — Mark the actor with ने in canonical transitive perfectives and choose verb agreement from the eligible object rather than the semantic doer.
- पाना achieved abilityB1 — Use verbal पाना to present ability as an attained result: managing, succeeding, or getting the opportunity to complete an action.
- Making requests across honorific levelsB1 — Match Hindi requests to intimate, familiar, and respectful relationships by coordinating address level, verb form, indirectness, particles, and tone.