Heard or listened

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When to Use the Verb “to Listen”
Use the Verb “Listen” When you Want Someone to Pay Attention
When to Use the Verb “to Hear”
The ability to hear or your sense of hearing
Use “Hear” When you Want to Change the Subject of Conversation
Use “Hear” to Show Sympathy
Difference between Hear and Listen
How to Use HEAR
How to Use LISTEN
Difference between Hear and Listen | Picture
Confusing Examples!

The verbs “listen” and “hear” seem identical, but there is a subtle difference between them. But in some cases, we can often use them interchangeably.

What’s the difference between listen vs. hear is a question that makes even native English speakers pause and reflect to think about it.

You have to be very careful not to misuse these verbs because it may create misunderstandings. For example instead of saying “I did not hear you”, an English learner might say “I did not listen to you” thinking that these two sentences mean the same thing. Actually, they don’t, because the latter has a negative connotation, like you intended not to listen.

Does this sound confusing? Well, let’s improve your English speaking today and take a look at some of the uses and meanings of these verbs. Let’s learn how to use them correctly to speak more naturally like a native English speaker.

DEFINITION AND USAGE OF “LISTEN”

When to Use the Verb “to Listen”

Use the Verb “Listen” When you Want Someone to Pay Attention

For example:

— Listen, I have to tell you something.

— Oh, I hope it’s good news.

“Listen to Your Heart” is an example of a popular song in English that asks you to pay attention to your emotions.

When you say “Listen”, you are asking someone to intentionally pay attention to what you are saying. You want them to focus on what you are talking about or will talk about.

You can also use it to let someone know that you are actively listening to what they are saying. That you want to listen and you are interested in what they have to say.

For example:

— So, I have figured out how to fix our problem.

— Okay. I’m listening.

LISTEN IS USUALLY FOLLWED BY PREPOSITION “TO” when used with an object

“Listen” is not a transitive verb, so it is unable to take a direct object. That’s why “to” is necessary for these types of sentences.

For example:

— Please, listen to my explanation.

— Did you listen to the lecture?

— Let’s listen to a song.

if “listen” is used as a command or request, you don’t need to use the preposition “to”

If you want to give commands or requests using “listen”, you don’t have to follow it with “to” because there’s no direct object.

For example:

— Listen up! We need to finish this task now.

— I will tell you the plan so listen carefully.

— If you want to know the truth, you have to listen now.

Now that we have learned the proper usage of “listen”, let us now move on to “hear”.

When to Use the Verb “to Hear”

The ability to hear or your sense of hearing

For example:

— Hey, are you okay? You look tired.

— I couldn’t sleep last night. I could hear our neighbor’s dog barking all night.

Hearing is something that is not on purpose. It is hearing the sounds that you don’t intentionally want to hear. Would you like to hear the siren? Your neighbors shouting at each other? The dogs barking? I don’t think so. Hearing is more about your natural ability to hear, no effort needed, no focus necessary.

For example:

— Is John here already?

— I think so. I may have heard his voice earlier.

Use “Hear” When you Want to Change the Subject of Conversation

For example:

— Did you hear about the news? Jennifer Lopez is engaged!

— Wow! I’m so happy for her.

When you want to change the topic or begin talking about a new subject, using “hear” is a great way to start. Here are some other variations:

— Didn’t you hear? The new client is arriving today.

— Have you heard about the new series on Netflix?

Use “Hear” to Show Sympathy

For example:

— This job is demanding. I barely have time for my family.

— Yeah. I hear you.

“Hear”, if used correctly, can be a very powerful word. You can use it to show empathy. “I hear you” can mean different things like, “I understand” or “I agree with you”.

We can also use “hear” with prepositions to create phrasal verbs.

For example:

— I haven’t heard from him in a long time. (this means you have not received a communication like an email or call from someone)

— Just hear me out, then tell me what you think. (it means to listen to everything someone has to say)

Prepositions can change verbs into phrasal verbs with completely different meanings. Click here to see a lesson about the Top 10 Phrasal Verbs for Speaking English Part 2.

Now you know the difference between “listen” and “hear”. “Listen” involves effort and focus while “hear” is about your natural ability to hear even the things that you don’t want to hear. I hope this lesson will help you to be more correct and confident when speaking English!

Learn the difference between Hear and Listen in English with picture and examples.

Difference between Hear and Listen

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.

How to Use HEAR

HEAR (no effort) – A sound/ noise comes into your ear without you making an effort.

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.

Difference between Hear and Listen | Picture

A while ago we looked at how to use look, see and watch; today we at two other verbs connected to our senses: hear and listen.

Hear

We use hear for sounds that come to us when we are not expecting to hear them, i.e. we are not trying to hear something. We hear something without trying to.

"They both heard a strange noise coming from outside." "What was that noise, did you hear it?"

"I think I can hear Elvis. It could be coming from my neighbour's house."

Hear is used for sounds we cannot control:

"It was so loud at the party that I could not hear what she was saying."
"You'll have to shout when you meet my grandmother, she doesn't hear very well."

Listen

Listen is used when we are carefully listening to something. We actively pay attention to the sounds.

Hear is not followed by to. We hear something e.g. hear a noise. We listen to something e.g. "I listen to Jazz to relax".

Confusing Examples!

"I was listening to the radio last night when I heard a really documentary about Chinese culture."

In this example, we make an active effort to listen to the radio without knowing what we will hear on it. We can then use hear because we were not expecting the documentary to come on. We were not planning to listen to it, it just came on the radio. However, if someone turns off the radio during the show, you would say. "Hey, don't turn that off, I was listening to it!"

"Have you heard that new U2 song?"

We use hear in this question instead of listen because there is a focus on the sound of the song more that the action of listening to it. Sometimes heard is used when are listening to someone or something with great attention.

Now decide which word is needed to complete the following sentences: