oírse

Oírse is a Spanish pronominal verb formed from oír, meaning to be heard or to sound. It is used to indicate that a sound is audible to listeners, or to refer to hearing one’s own voice or sounds in a reflexive sense. The form with se is often used in impersonal or passive constructions, where the emphasis is on the auditory result rather than on who is listening.

In everyday usage, oírse describes how something sounds to an audience. For example, se oye un ruido fuera de la casa means “a noise can be heard outside the house,” and la música se oye desde la calle means “the music can be heard from the street.” When the focus is on oneself, the reflexive oírse appears in phrases like me oigo cantar, meaning “I hear myself singing.” The verb is distinct from escuchar, which conveys active listening.

Conjugation and forms: oírse conjugates like oír with reflexive pronouns. In the present indicative, the forms are me oigo, te oyes, se oye, nos oímos, os oís, se oyen. Other tenses follow the standard oír paradigm with the corresponding reflexive pronouns (for example, se oyó, se oyeron in the preterite; se oía, se oían in the imperfect). The impersonal passive sense is often realized with se in the third person: se oye, se oyen.

Usage notes: Oírse emphasizes audibility and perceptual result rather than deliberate listening. It is common in both Spain and Latin America and can replace sentences using sonar when describing how sounds are heard. See also oír and sonar.