Breakdown of ongaku wo kiku to, kibun ga yoku narimasu.
Questions & Answers about ongaku wo kiku to, kibun ga yoku narimasu.
音楽 is the direct object of the verb 聞く (to listen to / to hear).
In Japanese, the direct object of a transitive verb is marked with を.
- 音楽を聞く = to listen to music
- Pattern: [thing] を [transitive verb]
So 音楽を just means “music (as the thing being listened to).”
In this sentence, 聞くと is a conditional expression:
- 聞く = (I) listen (to it)
- 〜と after a verb = “when / whenever / if (and then automatically)”
So 音楽を聞くと means “When I listen to music / Whenever I listen to music, …”
The と-conditional is often used for:
- Regular results or natural consequences
- Things that always happen when the first action happens
That matches the idea “When I listen to music, my mood becomes better (as a general fact).”
が marks the grammatical subject of the verb なる here.
- 気分がよくなります = “(my) mood becomes good.”
Using が emphasizes “what changes” (the thing that becomes good), so it focuses on 気分 as the thing that undergoes the change.
気分はよくなります is also grammatically possible, but it sounds more like you are setting up 気分 as the main topic in contrast to something else (e.g., “As for my mood, it gets better (but something else doesn’t)”).
In a neutral, simple sentence, 気分が is more natural.
- よい / いい = good
- よく is the adverb / “-ly” form of よい (also used before なる)
- なる = to become
So よくなる literally means “to become good/better”.
気分がいいです means “(I) feel good / My mood is good” (a state).
気分がよくなります means “(my) mood becomes good / gets better” (a change).
The sentence is specifically talking about the change caused by listening to music, so よくなります is more appropriate than just いいです.
With い-adjectives (like よい / いい, たかい, おいしい), the pattern with なる is:
- adjective (stem) + く + なる
Examples:
- よい → よくなる (to become good/better)
- たかい → たかくなる (to become expensive/tall)
- あつい → あつくなる (to become hot)
So いいになる is ungrammatical; it must be よくなる.
Even though people usually say いい, the base form for grammar patterns like this is よい → よく.
Both 気分 and 気持ち relate to “feeling,” but their nuance differs:
気分 (きぶん): mood, physical/mental condition, how you “feel” overall
- Often used for physical condition or mood swings:
- 気分が悪い = I feel sick / I feel bad (physically or mentally)
- 気分がいい = I’m in a good mood / I feel good
- Often used for physical condition or mood swings:
気持ち (きもち): feeling, emotion, sensation, inner feelings
- Often for emotional or physical pleasantness:
- 気持ちがいい = feels good (e.g., a nice breeze, a massage)
- うれしい気持ち = a happy feeling
- Often for emotional or physical pleasantness:
In this sentence, 気分がよくなります suggests “my (overall) mood/condition improves,” which fits the idea of listening to music affecting your mood.
The non-past form 〜ます / 〜る in Japanese covers both:
- Present (now)
- Future / habitual (regularly, generally)
Here, 気分がよくなります expresses a general truth / habitual result:
- “When I listen to music, my mood gets better (as a rule).”
If you said よくなりました, that would describe one specific past occasion:
- 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなりました。
→ When I listened to music (that time), my mood got better.
Just remove the ます-form politeness and use the dictionary form:
- 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなる。
Polite: よくなります
Plain: よくなる
The meaning is the same; the polite version is used in more formal situations or with people you should speak politely to.
In standard and clear Japanese, you keep them:
- 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなります。
In very casual spoken Japanese, people might say something like:
- 音楽聞くと気分よくなる。
Here, both を and が are dropped.
However:
- This can sound sloppy or incomplete in writing.
- For learners, it’s better to keep the particles until you’re very comfortable with them.
- In exams, textbooks, and formal writing, you should include them.
What is the difference between と and とき in this kind of sentence?
For example: 音楽を聞くと vs 音楽を聞くとき.
They both relate to “when,” but their nuance is different:
〜と: “when / whenever / if (and then automatically)”
- Focus on a cause → automatic result or general rule
- 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなります。
→ Whenever I listen to music, my mood gets better (general tendency).
〜とき: “(the) time when / when (you do something)”
- Focus on the time point rather than a cause-result pattern
- 音楽を聞くとき、よく集中します。
→ When I listen to music (at those times), I concentrate well.
You could say 音楽を聞くとき、気分がよくなります, but it sounds more like “At the times when I listen to music, my mood becomes good,” which is slightly more awkward than the smooth cause-result feel of 聞くと here.
Both 聞く and 聴く are read きく, but:
- 聞く is the more general, common kanji:
- to hear, listen, ask (a question)
- 聴く focuses more on “listening carefully / attentively,” especially to music or sound.
For everyday Japanese, especially at beginner/intermediate level, 聞く is perfectly fine and very common even for music:
- 音楽を聞く is natural and widely used.
- 音楽を聴く adds a nuance of “listening attentively” but is not required.
In many learning materials, 聞く is taught as the default.
The comma 、 in Japanese is mainly for readability and natural pausing, not grammar:
- 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなります。
- 音楽を聞くと気分がよくなります。
Both are grammatically correct. The comma just marks a natural pause between the “when”-clause and the result clause, similar to:
- “When I listen to music, my mood gets better.”
It’s common (and recommended) to write a comma after a conditional clause like 〜と, 〜たら, 〜なら, 〜ば, etc., but not strictly mandatory.
Japanese strongly prefers [condition] → [result] order. So:
- Natural: 音楽を聞くと、気分がよくなります。
- 気分がよくなります、音楽を聞くと。 sounds unnatural or marked.
You can sometimes put the result first and then add 〜から or 〜ので (“because”) afterward:
- 気分がよくなります。音楽を聞くからです。
→ My mood gets better. It’s because I listen to music.
But with と as a conditional, you should keep the condition first.