HEAR means that sounds come into your ears whether you want it or not, while LISTEN means that you consciously pay attention to what you hear.
- You do not make conscious decision to hear.
- You physically experience the sense of sound.
- Sometimes the sound you hear is sudden or unexpected like a noise, an alarm or an explosion.
Examples:
- Can you hear me?
- Did you hear the thunder last night?
- I didn’t hear what you said. Sorry
- Could you speak louder, please? I couldn’t hear anything.
- Can you hear the birds singing in the garden?
- We heard a terrible noise when the cars crashed in front of our house.
How to Use LISTEN
LISTEN (no effort) – When you pay attention and try to listen to sounds
- You make decision to listen
- You deliberately pay attention to the sound.
- Listen + to + object (something)
Examples:
- Are you listening to the radio last night?
- My sister loves listening to music.
- I tried to listen but I couldn’t hear anything.
- Listen! some fine jazz music is played in the neighbor’s flat.
- Everybody listened carefully to the old man’s story.
- You’ll get in trouble if you don’t listen to your teacher.
Compare:
You can hear somebody talking but you need to listen to them to understand what they are saying.
