Before you start
Meet anhören
Read how the verb is used, then write your own 10 sentences with it.
All 4 meanings
- (transitive, rather formal) to listen to the end, to hear out
- (transitive, dative reflexive) to listen to something
- (ditransitive) to notice, to be able to tell (a quality based on someone's speech); to be apparent (with subject and object switched)
- (reflexive, copulative) to sound
Build the meaning
an- + hören
- an-
- toward or into contact with something
- hören
- to hear or listen
Direct your listening toward something and attend to it.
So anhören means to listen to; to hear someone out.
A memory aid, not a rule: prefixes change meaning from verb to verb.
Learning approach inspired by this explanation in r/German.
Separable verb: an·hören
In a main clause the prefix an splits off and goes to the end. After weil, dass and other subordinating words, the verb stays in one piece at the end.
Main clauseSie hört sich die Nachricht an.She listens to the message.
Subordinate clauseEr bleibt hier, weil er sich das Lied anhört.He stays here because he is listening to the song.
Participle: angehörtzu-infinitive: anzuhören
Forms
How anhören changes
| Pronoun | Präsens | Präteritum |
|---|---|---|
| ich | höre an | hörte an |
| du | hörst an | hörtest an |
| er/sie/es | hört an | hörte an |
| wir | hören an | hörten an |
| ihr | hört an | hörtet an |
| Sie | hören an | hörten an |
Partizip II angehört · Perfekt with haben
Three examples
- 1Ich höre mir das Lied an.I listen to the song.prefix goes to the end
- 2Wir haben uns gestern das Lied angehört.We listened to the song yesterday.Perfekt with haben
- 3Du kannst dir die Musik anhören.You can listen to the music.infinitive after modal verb
Verb family
More verbs built on hören
Same base verb, a different prefix, a new meaning.