What’s the difference between hear and listen?

Feature image for Hear and Listen
This is a good lesson. Do you hear me? Listen, we are going to talk about the difference between hear and listen. So let's get started!

The verbs “hear” and “listen” are both used for sound.  This is why they can be a little confusing and are often used in the wrong way.  But after this simple explanation you will understand how to use them well. At the end try our quick quiz so you can put what you learn into action.

Let’s start with “hear” first. 

Hear

Hear is a verb meaning it is an action. Hear is also an irregular verb, meaning that the form changes in the past tense. In the past tense “hear” becomes heard.

We use the word “hear” when sounds come into our ears without paying attention or focusing on the sounds.   In fact, most sounds are sounds that you “hear” because it’s hard to focus on all the sounds that come into your ears at once.  Think about being in a city, you can hear many things like cars driving by, people taking, or dogs barking but you are not paying attention to all these sounds at once.

Here are some example sentences using the word “hear”

  • Did you hear the plane go over our heads?
  •  She heard the car crash.
  • The explosion could be heard across the city.

Hear can be used to also express news that is being told. In this instance, you would use the word hear like…

  • “I hear that Jane is pregnant,”
  • “I heard t hat Joe lost his job.”

Finally, hear can be used to express who you hear from. For example,

  • “I hear from Jane, the her husband is sick.” 
  • “I heard from my teacher that the test is tomorrow.”
When using hear in this form you have to use the structure hear from + someone.

When deciding to use hear think decide whether it is an active effort or is it passive, meaning it just happens without effort.

Listen

Listen is when we are concentrating on and actively trying to hear something.

Speaking and listening diagram

We can listen to a noise that is happening now, like a song or speech, or we can listen for something or a noise that we are expecting to happen, like the doorbell or footsteps.

You can hear without listening, but you cannot listen without hearing.
Listen is also a verb because it is an action. Listen is a regular verb because you just add -ed to the end in order to make the word past tense. So in the past tense “listen” becomes listened. You would use listen in statements like:

  • “Please listen t o the tour guide very carefully.”
  • “Did you listen to the lecture?”

  • “I listened for the door to shut as they left.”
  • “I listened to the radio this morning.”

 Keep in mind to use “listen” when someone is actively trying to hear a noise or paying attention. 

Practice Time! (Answers at the bottom)

  1. I can _____ the baby crying. She must be hungry.

    a. hear

    b. listen

  2. Hey! _____, it’s that spooky sound again.

    a. Hear

    b. Listen

  3. We _____ the car crash and ran outside to help.

    a. heard

    b. listened

  4. She was talking very quietly; did you ____ what she just said?

    a. hear

    b. listen

  5. OK, this is important, so please ____ carefully.

    a. Hear b. Listen

So, I know you are all dying to know what you made on the quiz, here are the answers (I am trusting that you did not cheat.)

1. Hear- you would use “hear” in this statement because she was not actively listening for the baby cry but she did hear the sound when it happened.

2. Listen- you would use “listen” here because the person making the statement is trying to get you to actively pay attention to a noise.

3. Heard- again, you would use “heard” ( hear in the past tense) because the noise came to you even though you were not listening for it on purpose.

4. Hear- you would use “hear” because it is asking if you could hear the sound that the person was making, you were not intentionally listening for what they said.

5. Listen- you would use “listen” in this sentence because you are asking someone to pay attention carefully to what is being said.

Ok, let's review!

Just to recap, keep in mind that ​hear i​ s passive and just happens to you, whereas ​listen​ means you are actively trying to hear a noise.

Shaun Munro

Shaun Munro

Shaun Munro has been successful in helping people communicate better in English for almost 20 years.  It has been a long journey, with many successes and many challenges.  Read about his amazing story here.  If you would like to send Shaun a quick message, please visit his contact page here.

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