LISTEN vs. HEAR

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a great day. Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin.

Today we look at two more words, this time verbs, that can cause confusion in English: hear and listen. They can be translated into Spanish/Catalan as oír/sentir and escuchar/escoltar, respectively.

So what are the differences between these verbs?

Listen means: to pay attention to a sound or make an effort to hear a sound or understand what someone tells you.

Example 1:
I listen to podcasts every morning on my way to work.

Example 2:
My wife never listens to what I have to say!

Hear means: to realise that something or somebody is making a sound. In this case there is not necessarily an effort made to detect the sound, as with listen.

Example 3:
He became very frightened when he heard noises outside the door.

Example 4:
I heard rumours that the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is going to quit.

Do you have any questions about the differences between these two words? Can you use these words in your own original sentences? You can post your questions and/or your sentences on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Twitter) and we will answer your questions and/or give you feedback about your sentences as soon as possible.

Enjoy the rest of your day!