Breakdown of Она умеет слушать людей.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
человек
person
слушать
to listen
уметь
to know how to, to be able to
Questions & Answers about Она умеет слушать людей.
Why do we use умеет here instead of знает как?
In Russian, acquired skills or knowing "how to" do something (like swimming, reading, or in this case, listening empathetically) is expressed directly with the verb уметь plus an infinitive. You would use знать, как for factual knowledge or instructions, like knowing the steps of how a machine works.
Is слушать the verb for "to listen" or "to hear"?
слушать means "to listen" (an active, deliberate process). The verb for "to hear" (a passive physical perception) is слышать. Since she has a skill for actively paying attention to people, слушать is the correct choice here.
Why is людей used here instead of люди?
людей is the accusative plural of человек (person). Because people are animate (living beings), the accusative plural takes the exact same form as the genitive plural. The verb слушать takes a direct object in the accusative case. Also note that Russian does not use a preposition for "listen to" like English does!
How would the meaning change if we dropped умеет and used an independent infinitive clause, like Ей слушать людей?
Using a dative subject plus an independent infinitive completely changes the meaning to inevitability or a predestined task. While Она умеет слушать людей simply states her personal skill (She knows how to listen), Ей слушать людей means "It is for her to listen to people" or "She is the one who has to listen to people."