見える・聞こえる
Be visible / be audible — sights and sounds reaching your senses on their ownmachine translation
FormationNoun + が + 見える／聞こえる
見える and 聞こえる describe sights and sounds entering your eyes and ears on their own, without any effort: seeing mountains from the window, hearing birds sing. The object takes the particle が: 海が見える, 音が聞こえる.
Distinguish them from the potential forms 見られる・聞ける: that pair means "can watch/listen" because circumstances or conditions allow it — このホテルで日本の映画が見られます (at this hotel you can watch Japanese movies). But 部屋から海が見えます is scenery presenting itself to your eyes, independent of your will. In short: 見える・聞こえる describe what the senses receive on their own; 見られる・聞ける describe opportunity and conditions.
The negatives 見えない・聞こえない are also very common: 字が小さくて見えません (the print is too small to see), 声がよく聞こえません (I can't hear you well). Close in meaning to 聞こえる is the pattern 音がする ("there's a sound") — covered in the 〜がする lesson.
Examples
ホテルの部屋から海が見えます。
You can see the ocean from the hotel room.
隣の部屋から音楽が聞こえます。
I can hear music from the room next door.
眼鏡がないと、小さい字が見えません。
Without my glasses, I can't see small print.