听得见吗？
tīng de jiàn ma?
The Chinese phrase for "can you hear me?" is 听得见吗？ (tīng de jiàn ma?)
听得见吗？ is used to ask if a person is able to perceive the sound of your voice. It is a common phrase to use during phone calls or video conferences to check if the audio connection is working.
Which one should you use?
The phrase 听得见 (tīng de jiàn) refers specifically to the physical ability to perceive sound. If you want to ask if someone understands the meaning of what you are saying, you would use 听懂 (tīng dǒng) instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
The particle 吗 (ma) is added to the end of the phrase to turn the statement into a yes/no question.
How do you pronounce it?
tīng de jiàn ma?
When do people say it?
A common way to respond to the question is to simply repeat the affirmative form 听得见 (tīng de jiàn) without the question particle.
Did you know?
- The word 见 in 听得见 normally means 'to see' or 'to meet', but here it functions as a resultative verb indicating that the sound has successfully reached the ear.
- The structure 得见 is part of a 'potential complement' system, a grammar feature that allows Chinese speakers to express whether an action can be successfully achieved without using a separate word for 'can'.
- If you want to ask if someone is 'listening' to you out of attention rather than physical capacity, you would use 在听 (zài tīng). This describes an ongoing state of attention rather than a sensory check.
Examples in context
- 喂，你听得见吗？Wèi, nǐ tīng de jiàn ma?Hello, can you hear me?
- 信号不好，你听得见吗？Xìnhào bù hǎo, nǐ tīng de jiàn ma?The signal is bad, can you hear me?
- 耳机里听得见吗？Ěrjī lǐ tīng de jiàn ma?Can you hear me through the headphones?
Example conversation
Wei is calling Zihan on a video call, but the connection is unstable.
- 伟 Wei喂，梓涵，你听得见吗？Wèi, Zǐhán, nǐ tīng de jiàn ma?Hello, Zihan, can you hear me?
- 梓涵 Zihan听得见，但是声音有点小。Tīng de jiàn, dànshì shēngyīn yǒudiǎn xiǎo.I can hear you, but your voice is a bit quiet.
- 伟 Wei那我大声一点。Nà wǒ dàshēng yīdiǎn.Then I will speak a bit louder.
- 梓涵 Zihan这样可以了。Zhèyàng kěyǐ le.That's fine now.
