Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi ha ongaku wo yoku kikimasu.

は = topic (what we’re talking about, sometimes contrastive)
が = grammatical subject (who/what actually does the action in a more neutral or focused way)

Here, 私は introduces you as the topic, and everything that follows is information about you.

Why is は pronounced “wa” here and not “ha”?

The character は normally represents the sound “ha” in words (e.g. 花 = はな = hana).

However, when は is used specifically as the topic particle, it is pronounced “wa.”

As a syllable in a word: は → ha
As the topic particle: は → wa

So 私は is pronounced わたしは (watashi wa), not watashi ha. This is just a quirk of Japanese spelling vs. pronunciation that you have to memorize.

Can I leave out 私 and just say 音楽をよく聞きます。?

Yes, you can absolutely drop 私.

Japanese often omits pronouns like “I,” “you,” “he,” “she” when they’re obvious from context. So:

私は音楽をよく聞きます。
音楽をよく聞きます。

Both can mean “I often listen to music.” In everyday conversation, the shorter version without 私 is very natural, especially if it’s already clear you’re talking about yourself.

You typically include 私は if:

You’re introducing a new topic: 私は音楽をよく聞きますが、弟はあまり聞きません。
You want to contrast: 私は (as for me)… vs 友達は (as for my friend)…

Why do we use を after 音楽? What does を mean here?

を is the direct object particle. It marks the thing that the verb is directly acting on.

音楽 = music
音楽を = music (as the thing you are doing something to)

The verb 聞きます (to listen / to hear) is a transitive verb here, so it takes a direct object:

音楽を聞きます = (I) listen to music.

In English, we use the preposition “to” (“listen to music”), but in Japanese, this relationship is expressed with the object marker を, not with a separate word like “to.”

How is を pronounced? Is it “wo” or “o”?

In modern standard Japanese, the particle を is pronounced “o”, not “wo.”

So:

音楽を is pronounced おんがくを (ongaku o), but in actual speech it sounds like おんがくお (ongaku o).
Many Romanization systems write it as o, some as wo to show it’s the particle, but the sound is essentially o.

You almost never hear a strong “w” sound in を in normal spoken Japanese.

What exactly does よく mean here? Is it “often” or “well”?

よく has two common meanings:

“often / frequently” (frequency)
“well / properly” (degree / quality)

In 私は音楽をよく聞きます。, the natural interpretation is “often / frequently”, so the whole sentence means “I often listen to music.”

You’ll see both uses in different contexts:

よく映画を見ます。 – I often watch movies.
日本語がよく分かります。 – I understand Japanese well.
よく勉強しましたね。 – You studied well / a lot, good job.

Context tells you whether it’s about frequency or quality. With things like 音楽を聞く, テレビを見る, 映画を見る, よく almost always means “often.”

Could I change the word order? For example, say 私はよく音楽を聞きます。 or よく音楽を聞きます。?

Yes, Japanese word order is relatively flexible as long as the particles stay attached to the right words.

All of these are natural:

私は音楽をよく聞きます。
私はよく音楽を聞きます。
音楽をよく聞きます。
よく音楽を聞きます。

Nuance:

Putting よく right before 聞きます (音楽をよく聞きます) slightly emphasizes the frequency of the listening.
Putting よく earlier (私はよく音楽を聞きます) makes “often” feel like a general habit of yours.

The differences here are very small; in everyday conversation, they’re basically interchangeable.

Why is the verb 聞きます and not something like 聞ます? What is that き?

The dictionary (plain) form of the verb is 聞く (kiku). It’s a Group 1 (う-verb).

To make the polite -ます form, you:

Take the stem:
- 聞く → 聞き- (change く to き)
Add ます:
- 聞き + ます → 聞きます

So 聞きます is the correct polite form of 聞く.

A few other examples of the same pattern:

書く → 書きます (to write)
歩く → 歩きます (to walk)
行く → 行きます (to go)

So that き is simply part of the conjugation for the -ます form.

What’s the difference between 聞きます and 聴きます when talking about music?

Both can be read as ききます (kikimasu), but the kanji nuance is different:

聞く / 聞きます: to hear / to listen (general)
聴く / 聴きます: to listen carefully / attentively, often used for things like music or speeches.

When talking about music:

音楽を聞きます。 – I listen to music. (neutral)
音楽を聴きます。 – I listen to music (with attention, like appreciating it).

In everyday writing (especially on the computer), many people just use 聞く for everything, and it’s perfectly acceptable. The variant 聴く is more about adding a stylistic or emotional nuance.

Does 聞く mean both “to listen” and “to ask”? How do I know which meaning it has here?

Yes, 聞く (きく) has two common meanings:

To hear / listen
To ask / inquire

Which meaning it has is determined by context and particles.

音楽を聞く – listen to music (を marks the thing you hear)
先生に聞く – ask the teacher (に marks the person you ask)

In your sentence:

音楽 + を + 聞きます → the pattern “Xを聞く” strongly suggests “listen to X”.

So here, there is no ambiguity; it clearly means “(I) listen to music.”

Why is it 聞きます and not 聞く? What’s the difference?

聞きます is the polite form, and 聞く is the plain (dictionary) form.

聞きます – polite
聞く – plain / casual

You’d typically use 聞きます:

When talking to strangers, teachers, bosses, customers.
In most formal or neutral situations.
In textbooks aimed at beginners (they usually teach -ます forms first).

You might use 聞く:

With close friends and family.
In informal writing (notes, diaries, many manga, etc.).
When you look up the verb in a dictionary.

So 私は音楽をよく聞きます。 is polite, appropriate in most social situations. 私は音楽をよく聞く。 would be a casual way to say the same thing.

Why doesn’t Japanese say “listen to music”? Where is “to” in this sentence?

English says “listen to music” with the preposition “to”, but Japanese expresses this relationship differently.

Japanese uses the object particle を to mark what you are listening to:

音楽を聞きます。
- 音楽 = music
- を = marks “music” as the direct object of “listen”
- 聞きます = listen

So を is doing the job that English splits between direct object and a preposition (to).

There is no direct equivalent of this “to” in Japanese; it’s built into the pattern X を聞く = listen to X.

Does 音楽 mean “music” in general, or “a piece of music,” or “songs”? There’s no a / the / some—how do I know?

Japanese nouns usually don’t mark singular vs. plural or definiteness (a / the / some). 音楽 just means “music” as a general concept or as a mass noun.

Depending on context, 音楽 could correspond to:

“music”
“some music”
“the music”

In 私は音楽をよく聞きます。, the natural English is:

“I often listen to music.” (general habit)

If you wanted to specifically mention songs, you could say 歌 (うた) or 曲 (きょく), but 音楽 is perfectly natural for “music” as a general hobby or interest.

What’s the difference between よく and たくさん? Could I say 音楽をたくさん聞きます。?

Both よく and たくさん can be translated as something like “a lot,” but they focus on different aspects:

よく → often / frequently (how often you do it)
たくさん → a lot / many / much (quantity)

Compare:

音楽をよく聞きます。
→ I often listen to music. (many times, high frequency)
音楽をたくさん聞きます。
→ I listen to a lot of music. (large amount of music)

音楽をたくさん聞きます。 is grammatically fine and natural; it just slightly shifts the nuance from frequency to quantity. In daily conversation, both are common, but よく is more standard when you want to say “often”.