Hører

Hører is the present tense form of the verb å høre in Danish and Norwegian Bokmål. It covers both the act of perceiving sound with the ears and the act of listening, and it can also appear in phrases that mean to hear about something. The word is used for both physical hearing and attentive listening, and it can take a range of objects and complements, such as music, radio, or news.

Common uses include:

- Jeg hører musikk. (I hear/listen to music.)

- Kan du høre meg? (Can you hear me?)

- Hva hører du? (What do you hear?)

- Jeg hører på radio. (I am listening to the radio.)

- Jeg hører om nyhetene. (I’m hearing about the news.)

Høre can be combined with prepositions to express different meanings, such as å høre på (to listen to, e.g., music or a broadcast), å høre etter (to listen for, to be alert for something), or å høre om/å høre på nyheter (to hear about or to listen to the news). The verb also forms the simple past hørte and the present perfect har hørt.

Differences by language: In Norwegian Bokmål, the present tense is hører; in Norwegian Nynorsk the equivalent form is høyrer. Danish also uses hører as the present tense. The verb is cognate with Swedish höra, German hören, and English hear, reflecting their shared Germanic roots.

Notes: In many contexts, especially with active listening, lytte til is a related but distinct verb in Norwegian and Danish, carrying a nuance of deliberate attention rather than mere perception.