सुनना covers both involuntary “hear” and deliberate “listen to.” The infinitive is spelled सुनना, with न् + न across the stem and suffix, and is romanized sunnā. Other forms expose the stem सुन-: सुनता, सुना, सुनूँगा. The verb is transitive, and its object marking controls perfective agreement.
Principal parts and auditory objects
| Category | Form | Illustration |
|---|---|---|
| stem | सुन- | आवाज़ सुन- |
| infinitive | सुनना | संगीत सुनना |
| habitual | सुनता / सुनती / सुनते | वह सुनती है |
| perfective | सुना / सुनी / सुने / सुनीं | उसने आवाज़ सुनी |
| conjunctive | सुनकर | ख़बर सुनकर |
Sounds, music, news, advice, and speech content are ordinarily direct objects: गाना सुनना, ख़बर सुनना, मेरी बात सुनना. A specific person heard speaking commonly takes को: मैंने उसे रेडियो पर सुना.
हम सफ़र में पुराने गाने सुनते हैं।
ham safar meṃ purāne gāne sunte haiṃ.
We listen to old songs while traveling.
शोर में मैं आपकी आवाज़ नहीं सुन पा रही हूँ।
śor meṃ maĩ āpkī āvāz nahīṃ sun pā rahī hū̃.
I can't hear your voice in the noise. (female speaker)
Hindi does not normally add a postposition corresponding to English to after listen: संगीत सुनो, not a translation built with “to music.”
Habitual and progressive
| Subject | Habitual present | Progressive present |
|---|---|---|
| मैं, masculine | सुनता हूँ | सुन रहा हूँ |
| मैं, feminine | सुनती हूँ | सुन रही हूँ |
| वह, masculine | सुनता है | सुन रहा है |
| वह, feminine | सुनती है | सुन रही है |
| हम / आप / वे, masculine or mixed | सुनते हैं | सुन रहे हैं |
| हम / वे, all feminine | सुनती हैं | सुन रही हैं |
एक मिनट, मैं समाचार सुन रहा हूँ।
ek minaṭ, maĩ samācār sun rahā hū̃.
One minute, I'm listening to the news. (male speaker)
Whether the perception is deliberate comes from context. Progressive सुनना usually suggests ongoing attention, while a perfective such as आवाज़ सुनी can report a moment of hearing.
Perfective agreement
Canonical perfective सुनना marks the experiencer-agent with ने. An unmarked object controls सुना/सुनी/सुने/सुनीं; a को-marked object blocks agreement and gives default सुना.
मैंने बाहर अजीब आवाज़ सुनी।
maĩne bāhar ajīb āvāz sunī.
I heard a strange sound outside.
बच्चों ने दादी की सारी कहानियाँ सुनीं।
baccoṃ ne dādī kī sārī kahāniyā̃ sunīṃ.
The children listened to all of Grandmother's stories.
हमने उस गायिका को पहली बार लाइव सुना।
hamne us gāyikā ko pahlī bār lāiv sunā.
We heard that singer live for the first time.
Although गायिका is feminine, को blocks agreement; सुना is default masculine singular.
Evidential सुनना: reporting what one has heard
मैंने सुना है कि ... introduces information acquired from another source rather than directly verified by the speaker. It often corresponds to English “I hear that” or “I've heard that.”
मैंने सुना है कि अगले महीने नई ट्रेन शुरू होगी।
maĩne sunā hai ki agle mahīne naī ṭren śurū hogī.
I've heard that a new train will start next month.
सुना है, आप नई नौकरी शुरू कर रहे हैं।
sunā hai, āp naī naukrī śurū kar rahe haiṃ.
I hear you're starting a new job. (conversational report)
The subject can be omitted in the second, conversational formula. सुनना marks reported access, but it does not certify that the report is true. Hindi normally keeps the embedded clause's natural time reference rather than mechanically backshifting it.
Future, subjunctive, and imperative
| Person | Subjunctive | Future masculine | Future feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| मैं | सुनूँ | सुनूँगा | सुनूँगी |
| तुम | सुनो | सुनोगे | सुनोगी |
| वह / यह | सुने | सुनेगा | सुनेगी |
| हम / आप / वे / ये | सुनें | सुनेंगे | सुनेंगी |
पहले मेरी बात सुनो, फिर फैसला करना।
pahle merī bāt suno, phir faislā karnā.
Listen to me first, then decide. (familiar)
Negation and questions preserve the same object frame. मैंने आवाज़ नहीं सुनी denies the perception; क्या आपने आवाज़ सुनी? asks whether it occurred. With deliberate listening, an adverbial such as ध्यान से makes the attentive reading explicit.
क्या आपने बाहर कोई आवाज़ सुनी?
kyā āpne bāhar koī āvāz sunī?
Did you hear any sound outside?
The imperatives are intimate सुन, familiar सुनो, and respectful सुनिए. Common non-finite forms are सुनता, सुना, सुनते हुए, सुनकर, सुनने, सुनने वाला.
Causative सुनाना and compound behavior
The lexicalized causative सुनाना means “make someone hear,” hence “tell, recite, or play for someone.” The recipient normally takes को.
दादी ने बच्चों को मज़ेदार कहानी सुनाई।
dādī ne baccoṃ ko mazedār kahānī sunāī.
Grandmother told the children an amusing story.
Compound सुन लेना presents listening as completed or undertaken before another step. अनसुना कर देना means deliberately ignore, not literally fail to hear.
जाने से पहले पूरा संदेश सुन लो।
jāne se pahle pūrā sandeś sun lo.
Listen to the whole message before leaving. (familiar)
An idiom is एक कान से सुनना और दूसरे से निकाल देना, “let something go in one ear and out the other.” For involuntary audibility, compare सुनना and सुनाई देना.
Common Mistakes
❌ मैं संगीत को सुनती हूँ।
Incorrect in the neutral music frame — संगीत is normally unmarked.
✅ मैं संगीत सुनती हूँ।
maĩ saṅgīt suntī hū̃.
I listen to music. (female speaker)
❌ उसने आवाज़ सुना।
Incorrect — unmarked feminine आवाज़ controls सुनी.
✅ उसने आवाज़ सुनी।
usne āvāz sunī.
They heard the sound.
❌ मैंने उस आदमी को सुनी।
Incorrect — को blocks agreement, so the verb defaults to सुना.
✅ मैंने उस आदमी को सुना।
maĩne us ādmī ko sunā.
I heard that man.
❌ कृपया मेरी बात सुनो।
Incorrect when addressing someone respectfully — use सुनिए with आप.
✅ कृपया मेरी बात सुनिए।
kripyā merī bāt sunie.
Please listen to me. (respectful)
Key Takeaways
सुनना spans hearing and listening. Preserve its spelling and pronunciation contrast: सुनना sunnā, but सुनता suntā. It is transitive in the perfective, with ने and object-controlled agreement. Evidential सुना है कि marks reported information, while causative सुनाना means tell, recite, or cause to hear.
Related Topics
- सुनना versus सुनाई देनाB1 — Choose सुनना to center the hearer or listener and सुनाई देना to center a sound's audibility to an experiencer.
- 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.
- Direct causatives in -ā-B2 — Form and use Hindi -ā- causatives for direct, closely controlled causation while tracking lexical stem changes and ordinary agreement.
- कहना kahnā: to sayA1 — Reference कहना across its speech-complement frames, perfective agreement, future and imperative forms, and causative extensions.
- Reported speech without backshiftC1 — Report Hindi statements faithfully without importing English automatic tense backshift, while adjusting viewpoint and deixis when meaning requires it.
- Turn-taking hesitation and repairC1 — Manage Hindi conversation through turn-entry signals, holding devices, listener responses, self-repair, and respectful clarification.