Hören: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German

Introduction

Hören means “to hear”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for hören, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Example sentences

Twelve sentences with hören, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “I hear music in the living room.”
  2. “Du hörst ein Geräusch in der Nacht.” — “You hear a noise in the night.”
  3. “Ich habe Marie am Morgen singen gehört.” — “I have heard Marie singing in the morning.”
  4. “Er hörte Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “He heard music in the living room.”
  5. “Wir werden ein Geräusch in der Nacht hören.” — “We will hear a noise in the night.”
  6. “Du hast Marie am Morgen singen gehört.” — “You have heard Marie singing in the morning.”
  7. “Ich hörte Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “I would hear music in the living room.”
  8. “Er höre ein Geräusch in der Nacht.” — “He hears a noise in the night.”
  9. “Wir hatten Marie am Morgen singen gehört.” — “We had heard Marie singing in the morning.”
  10. “Er wird Musik im Wohnzimmer hören.” — “He will hear music in the living room.”
  11. “Sie hören ein Geräusch in der Nacht.” — “They hear a noise in the night.”
  12. “Hör Marie am Morgen singen!” — “Hear Marie singing in the morning!”

A short dialogue

Lena and Jonas are talking about music in the living room. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how hören changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of hören below is taken from the verified tables.

Lena: “Hörst du Musik im Wohnzimmer?” — “You hear music in the living room?” Jonas: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “I hear music in the living room.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde ein Geräusch in der Nacht hören.” — “I will hear a noise in the night.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe Marie am Morgen singen gehört.” — “I have heard Marie singing in the morning.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich hörte Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “I would hear music in the living room.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.

Hören in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of hören that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, hören describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is höre: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.” — “I hear music in the living room.”

The preterite: the past as a finished event

In the preterite, hören describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is hörte: “Er hörte ein Geräusch in der Nacht.” — “He heard a noise in the night.”

The Perfekt: finished actions

In the Perfekt, hören reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gehört. The ich form is habe gehört: “Ich habe Marie am Morgen singen gehört.” — “I have heard Marie singing in the morning.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, hören talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden hören: “Wir werden Musik im Wohnzimmer hören.” — “We will hear music in the living room.”

Konjunktiv II: what would happen

In Konjunktiv II, hören talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is hörtest: “Du hörtest ein Geräusch in der Nacht.” — “You would hear a noise in the night.”

Konjunktiv I: reported speech

In reported speech, hören appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is höre: “Er höre Marie am Morgen singen.” — “He hears Marie singing in the morning.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Ich hören Musik im Wohnzimmer.”

✓ Right: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.”

The infinitive hören never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form höre.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Du höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.”

✓ Right: “Du hörst Musik im Wohnzimmer.”

höre is the ich form. With du you need hörst. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer gestern.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe Musik im Wohnzimmer gehört.”

The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gehört, not the present.

Using the indicative in reported speech

✗ Wrong: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.” (quoted as reported speech)

✓ Right: “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.” (quoted as reported speech)

In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: höre, not the indicative höre.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt

✗ Wrong: “Ich gehört Musik im Wohnzimmer.”

✓ Right: “Ich habe Musik im Wohnzimmer gehört.”

The Perfekt of hören needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gehört: the full ich form is habe gehört.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on hören. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the ich form of hören in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) hörst
    • B) hört
    • C) hören
    • D) höre

  2. What is the du form of hören in the Present (Präsens)?

    • A) hören
    • B) hörst
    • C) höre
    • D) hört

  3. What is the er/sie/es form of hören in the Perfect (Perfekt)?

    • A) habe gehört
    • B) hast gehört
    • C) haben gehört
    • D) hat gehört

  4. What is the wir form of hören in the Preterite (Präteritum)?

    • A) hörtet
    • B) hörten
    • C) hörte
    • D) hörtest

  5. What is the du form of hören in the Future (Futur I)?

    • A) wirst hören
    • B) werde hören
    • C) wird hören
    • D) werden hören

  6. What is the ich form of hören in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?

    • A) hörtest
    • B) hörten
    • C) hörtet
    • D) hörte

  7. What is the er/sie/es form of hören in the Konjunktiv I?

    • A) hörest
    • B) hören
    • C) höret
    • D) höre

  8. What is the ich form of hören in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?

    • A) hatten gehört
    • B) hattet gehört
    • C) hatte gehört
    • D) hattest gehört

  9. What is the past participle of hören?

    • A) gehört
    • B) gefühlt
    • C) gewohnt
    • D) gegessen

  10. What does hören mean in English?

  • A) to eat
  • B) to hear
  • C) to feel
  • D) to live

Answer key

  1. D) höre — the ich form of hören in the Present (Präsens) is höre. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. B) hörst — the du form of hören in the Present (Präsens) is hörst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) hat gehört — the er/sie/es form of hören in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gehört. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. B) hörten — the wir form of hören in the Preterite (Präteritum) is hörten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. A) wirst hören — the du form of hören in the Future (Futur I) is wirst hören. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. D) hörte — the ich form of hören in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is hörte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) höre — the er/sie/es form of hören in the Konjunktiv I is höre. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. C) hatte gehört — the ich form of hören in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gehört. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. A) gehört — the past participle of hören is gehört. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
  10. B) to hear — hören means “to hear” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does hören mean in English?

hören means “to hear”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is hören regular or irregular?

hören is regular in every tense. The present participle is hörend and the past participle is gehört.

How do I practise hören every day?

Say one sentence with hören in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich höre Musik im Wohnzimmer.”, “Ich habe Musik im Wohnzimmer gehört.” and “Ich werde Musik im Wohnzimmer hören.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for hören, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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