1.
to tell; to let someone hear
To tell or relate something to someone. A causative-like form of 聞く, meaning to make or allow someone to hear information, a story, or music.
子どもに昔話を聞かせた。
I told the children an old folk tale.
旅の土産話を友人に聞かせた。
I told my friend stories from my trip.
彼女は毎晩、寝る前に子どもに絵本を読み聞かせている。
She reads picture books aloud to her child every night before bed.
聞かす is a transitive godan verb. It functions as the causative form of 聞く, though it is a distinct lexical item rather than a grammatical causative.
ASPECT (ている):
聞かせている indicates an ongoing action of telling or playing something for someone to hear.
PARTICLE PATTERNS:
- [person]に[thing]を聞かせる (tell someone something)
- [person]に聞かせる (let someone hear)
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 話を聞かせる (tell a story)
- 歌を聞かせる (sing a song for someone)
- 読み聞かせる (read aloud to someone)
The て form 聞かせて is very common in conversation: いい話を聞かせてよ (Tell me a good story). The compound 読み聞かせ is a standard term for reading aloud to children.