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Can someone explain/confirm what these 2 sentence structures actually means:

>   1. [話す人の動作 ] お聞きしたいんですが。
>

My interpretation: I would like to listen? or is it : I would like to ask?

>   2. 友達のメールアドレスを知りたいです。何と言いますか。 メールアドレス、聞いてもいい？
>

My interpretation: Can you let me listen to what your mail address is? or is
it: Is it ok for me to ASK what your mail address is?
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2021-10-11T15:47:48.767
90701
2021-10-12T00:55:14.153
2021-10-11T15:57:39.517
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question
meaning
友達のメールアドレスを知りたいです。何と言いますか。 メールアドレス、聞いてもいい？
> I would like to listen? or is it : I would like to ask?

**I would like to ask** is the answer.

> Can you let me listen to what your mail address is? or is it: Is it ok for
> me to ASK what your mail address is?

**Is it ok for me to ASK what your mail address is?** is the answer.

* * *

In both cases, 聞く doesn't mean _the speaker wants to "listen"_. Instead, _the
speaker wants to ask (a question)_.

It's safe to say the following are **practically** the same:

  * お聞きしたいんですが。
  * 教えていただきたいんですが。

* * *

**EXAMPLES**

聞く = ask (a.k.a 訊く - see bottom of answer)

  * メールアドレス聞いていい？
  * 道を聞く
  * StackExchangeで聞く

聞く = listen (a.k.a 聞く or 聴く - see bottom of answer)

  * このCD聞いていい？
  * 声を聞く
  * Spotifyで聞く

* * *

**JFYI**

みる (see/watch/look) has _at least_ three kanjis - 見る 観る 診る. きく
(hear/listen/ask) has multiple kanjis too - 聞く 聴く 訊く. You can practically get
away with using just 聞く in this day and age. There's a lot of history and
politics behind how the usage of kanjis are evolving in Japanese society, so
determining which set of kanjis are "correct" is not easy. There are kids,
students, adults, elders, grammer nazis, scholars, etc... they all have their
preference. Strictly speaking, when you "ask a question", 訊く is probably
"correct" kanji. However, 訊く is also excluded from the [list of "commonly
used" kanjis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji) . In
reality, this list is just a guideline and most Japanese have experience with
the kanji 訊く and know how to read/use it... but when we start writing/typing a
message, we simply use 聞く instead of 訊く and most people don't complain.

So the conclusion is, 訊く for asking, 聴く for listening with your heart and
soul, and 聞く for listening with your ears...

「メールアドレス、訊いてもいい？」 is "correct" but 聞く can be used to replace all use-cases of
聞く・聴く・訊く, so 「メールアドレス、聞いてもいい？」 works perfectly.

Note that there will be exceptions and it all depends on the time, place,
occasion, and people.
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2021-10-12T00:55:14.153
2021-10-12T00:55:14.153
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answer