"The girls listen."

Translation: Die Mädchen hören zu.

[lynn130865]

Why is the zu necessary? in my head that makes it "the girl listens to"

[crispybacon4]

Zu is necessary because the verb zuhören means to listen. Hören alone would mean to hear.

[Seiryuu]

Wait, why is "zu" separated from "hören" and inverted? Shouldn't it be "Die Mädchen zuhören"?

[Michael854889]

Many German verbs are separable-prefix verbs. The infinitive is zuhören, but whenever the verb is conjugated or in a main clause, the prefix is separated from the verb. This hasn't been introduced in Duolingo yet... But it will be soon. Separable-prefix verbs are definitely a headache for German learners!

[ChrisB.453478]

Well, I answered 'Die Mädchen hören.' Then it told me 'Another correct solution:
Die Mädchen hören zu.' implying that 'hören' without zu is correct. Is that something they duolingo didn't catch?

[OldMate2]

Or they have mercifully allowed. As written above, it can be the difference between hearing and listening, concentrating on what you are hearing...

[Prince745]

I wrote "Die mädchen hören". And it wqs accepted (without "zu")

[JonBaum]

I got a listening exercise without the "zu".

[Will709432]

Why is just die Mädchen hören accepted without zu?

[crispybacon4]

I am wondering if "die Mädchen zuhören" would be acceptable, (since the separable verb might not need to be separated in such a short sentence)?

[quis_lib_duo]

No, that doesn't work. In present tense the inflected verb is to be separated in a main clause.

Wenn die Jungen zuhören, dann hören die Mädchen auch zu.

[crispybacon4]

Thanks. That helps a lot.

[David634390]

The only reason I knew I had to fill in that blank with "zu" is because of the "What Was That?" story where Martin öffnet die Tür und hört zu. Otherwise I would have absolutely no idea what to put here. I don't know why it's right, either. From other comments, it'll show up in a lesson eventually maybe.

[HelgaReiner]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this sentence has nothing to do with the dative case, unless it would specify who are they listening to. "Die Mädchen hören zu jemandem zu", but like this..

[raikar3]

hi

[Vincius237743]

oi

[Ian762824]

I put "Die Mädchen horchen," which was not accepted. The source I use most frequently for translations (and for my actual German class) puts "horchen" above "zuhören" when I search "to listen." Was curious if there was any important distinction between the two.

[OldMate2]

I have never seen this word! Thanks for the tip. I did a quick search and in one case it said that "horchen" needs to be combined with something temporal for it to make sense. I hope you reported it and then it can be considered if it is correct or not.

[sandraann2]

is zu hoeren here in dative? can accusative be also used auf hoeren or hoeren auf? [ no umlauts on computer]. sorry.
Sandra

[Pigslew]

Surely only nouns can be declined, Sandra, unless I'm wrong?