Polyglot Dictionary

zuhören

/ˈtsuːˌhøːʁən/

verb A2

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

V Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

present (3rd sg.)
hört zu
past
hörte zu
perfect
hat zugehört

Meaning

  1. to listen (to someone or something)

    zu ("to") + hören ("to hear") — and here the pieces add up exactly, unlike in aufhören.

V Category Action Concreteness Concrete Agency Voluntary Duration Durative Transitivity Transitive

Made of

  • zu to
  • hören to hear

Similar words

hören

This is the same distinction as English "hear" vs "listen": hören is passive perception — sound reaches your ears whether you want it to or not. zuhören is the active, attentive act of paying attention to what's being said.

Practice

1 What does zuhören mean?

2 Fill the gap: Hör mir bitte ___.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches zuhören?

verbcompoundseparable-prefixcore-vocabulary

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