Oír

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “oír”.

It’s a verb meaning “to hear”. It can also be translated as “to listen”, though the verb “escuchar” is more commonly used to refer to actively listening as opposed to merely hearing.

In many Spanish-speaking countries it’s common for people to use the imperative form “oye” to start a conversation or draw attention to something, in a similar way to how an English speaker might use words like “hey”, “listen” or “look”. Here are a few examples:

• Oye, ¿sabes qué? – Hey, you know what?
• Oye, se me ocurrió algo. – Listen, I just thought of something
• Oye, te olvidaste tu cartera. – Hey, you forgot your wallet

“Oír” is an irregular verb. Here’s how to conjugate it in the present tense:

• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes oyen – They hear, You hear (plural)
• Yo oigo – I hear
• Tú oyes – You hear (informal singular)
• Él/Ella/Usted oye– He/She hears, You hear (formal singular)
• Nosotros/Nosotras oímos – We hear
• Vosotros/Vosotras oís – You hear (informal plural, only used in Spain)

Example sentences