Breakdown of ongaku wo kiku to, yaruki ga masimasu.
Questions & Answers about ongaku wo kiku to, yaruki ga masimasu.
を marks the direct object of the verb – the thing that is directly affected by the action.
- 音楽を聞く literally = “to listen to music / to hear music.”
Here, 音楽 is what you are listening to, so it takes を.
Compare:
- 音楽を聞く – you intentionally listen to music.
- 音楽が聞こえる – “I can hear music / music is audible.” (no intention; the sound just reaches you)
So を is correct here because you’re doing the deliberate action of 聞く on 音楽.
The pattern dictionary form + と is a standard way to make a conditional in Japanese.
- 聞くと = “when I listen / if I listen / whenever I listen”
The rule is:
- Verb (dictionary form) + と, then result.
So the verb must be in its plain dictionary form (聞く, not 聞きます, not 聞いた) before と in this structure.
〜と here expresses a kind of automatic / natural result conditional, like:
- “When(ever) I do A, B happens (as a natural consequence).”
Nuance differences:
音楽を聞くと、やる気が増します。
= Whenever I listen to music, my motivation increases.
(General truth / predictable pattern.)音楽を聞いたら、やる気が増します。
= If/when I listen to music, my motivation will increase (in that situation).
More event-based, often used for future or specific cases.音楽を聞くとき、やる気が増します。
= At the time when I listen to music, my motivation increases.
Focuses more on the time, not on result relationship.
So 〜と here makes it feel like a habitual rule: “as a rule, whenever I listen to music, my motivation goes up.”
Grammatically, the subject is やる気 itself:
- やる気が増します。 = “(My) motivation increases.”
In natural Japanese, obvious things like “my” or “I” are often omitted. The listener understands from context that it’s your or the speaker’s motivation.
If you really want to spell it out, you could say, for example:
- 音楽を聞くと、私のやる気が増します。
- 音楽を聞くと、僕のやる気が増します。
But usually that の-phrase (my/your) is unnecessary and sounds a bit heavy unless you need to emphasize whose motivation it is.
やる気 refers to motivation / willingness to do something / drive to act.
- やる = “to do”
- 気 = “spirit / feeling / mood”
So やる気 is literally “the spirit to do [things].”
Examples:
- やる気がある – (I’m) motivated.
- やる気がない – (I have) no motivation.
元気, on the other hand, is more about energy / health / liveliness:
- 元気ですか。 – How are you? (Are you well / energetic?)
- 元気がない – looks tired, low energy, not lively.
So:
- やる気 = mental “I want to do it” feeling.
- 元気 = physical and emotional energy/health in general.
In this sentence, やる気 is correct, because music increases your motivation to do things, not just your physical health.
が marks the thing that is increasing – the grammatical subject of the verb 増す.
- やる気が増します。
= “Motivation increases.” (やる気 is what increases.)
If you used は, you’d shift the focus/topic slightly:
- やる気は増します。
= “As for motivation, it (does) increase…” (maybe in contrast with something else)
In a simple, neutral statement of what increases, が is the natural choice.
Both 増える and 増す can mean “to increase,” but their usage and nuance differ.
増える – very common, neutral “to increase” (intransitive).
- Examples: 人口が増える (the population increases), 雨が増える (rain increases).
増す – also “to increase,” but sounds a bit more formal or literary, and is often seen in set phrases or written language.
- Examples: 効果が増す (the effect increases), 信頼が増す (trust increases).
In やる気が増します, 増します:
- is polite (ます form),
- and feels slightly more formal/elevated than やる気が増えます.
You could say:
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が増えます。
It’s grammatically fine and natural. 増します just adds a slightly refined tone.
Both are natural, but they have slightly different nuances:
やる気が出ます
= “Motivation comes out / appears / arises.”
Often used when motivation starts to appear from low or zero:- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が出ます。
“When I listen to music, I get motivated.”
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が出ます。
やる気が増します
= “Motivation increases (from what it already is).”
Focuses more on increase in amount, not the first appearance.
In everyday conversation, やる気が出る is extremely common and might sound a bit more colloquial and natural:
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が出ます。 – very natural spoken style.
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が増します。 – also correct, slightly more formal / written tone.
Yes, you can write 音楽を聴く, and many people do, especially in more careful writing.
Rough nuance:
- 聞く – general “to hear / to listen” (includes just catching sound).
- 聴く – “to listen carefully / attentively,” often to music or a speech.
So:
- 音楽を聞く – listen/hear music (neutral; can be used anywhere).
- 音楽を聴く – listen to music attentively, enjoy it, focus on it.
In everyday text and especially in typing, many people just use 聞く for everything, because it’s simpler and all in kana/常用漢字. Using 聴く adds a nuance of more intentional, focused listening, but it’s not required.
You mainly drop the ます and can optionally drop some particles:
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が増す。 – simplest casual version; just remove ます.
- More colloquial/natural alternatives:
- 音楽聞くと、やる気出る。 (drop を, switch to 出る which is very common)
- 音楽聞くと、やる気上がる。 (“my motivation goes up”)
All of these are understandable in casual conversation among friends.
The comma is not grammatically required, but it’s common and helpful.
- 音楽を聞くと、やる気が増します。
The comma marks a natural pause between the conditional clause (if/when I listen to music) and the result (my motivation increases).
You can also write:
- 音楽を聞くとやる気が増します。
It’s still correct. The comma is mainly for readability and to reflect how people naturally pause in speech.
音楽を聞く usually corresponds to “listen to music” – an intentional action.
- 聞く – you actively try to hear or listen.
- 音楽を聞く – listen to music.
- 先生の話を聞く – listen to the teacher’s talk.
聞こえる means “can be heard / be audible” and is not an intentional action.
- 音楽が聞こえる。 – You can hear music / Music is audible.
(Maybe from another room; you’re not purposely listening, you just notice it.)
So:
- Use 聞く when you’re doing the action of listening.
- Use 聞こえる when the sound is simply reaching your ears without you especially trying.