聞 — “to listen / to ask” in Japanese

Grade 2ぶん, もん, き

Radical ⽿ · radical 128 The building block this kanji is filed under

“to listen / to ask” in Japanese is 聞, read bun, mon, ki (ぶん, もん, き). It is a Grade 2 Kyōiku kanji, taught in year 2 of Japanese elementary school, and appears in words such as 新聞 (newspaper).

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What does 聞 mean?

Full details, readings & example

Kanji	聞
Meaning	to listen / to ask
Readings	ぶん, もん, き
Grade	Grade 2 (Easy)
Curriculum	Kyōiku kanji · Japanese elementary school
Example	新聞 (newspaper)

How to read 聞

聞 is read bun (ぶん) or mon (もん) or ki (き) depending on the word.

Words with 聞

新聞しんぶん

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Kanji read the same way as 聞

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Updated: 2026-08-28