Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources




  • Home
  • Online English lessons
  • IELTS online course
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • List of all articles & lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Home > Articles > English lessons > Difference between hear and listen

Difference between hear and listen

11th March 2019 by Andrew 1 Comment

“hear” and “listen” are both verbs related to sounds. The meaning of both words is therefore related but different. It is important not to confuse the meaning and use.

Hear

“hear” is the action of a sound coming to our ears. “hearing” is one of the five senses. We sense a sound. Our ears physically detect the sound. We do not have a choice. When we hear something, we are inactive. We are not trying to do something. No real effort is required to hear something.

When a doctor checks our ears, it is called a “hearing test.” – It is not a listening test.

Examples:


bird singing
I hear this bird singing every morning.
Did you hear that noise?
You are talking quietly but I can hear you.

Form of “hear”

Form:
hear + object

Examples:
I heard a noise.
She heard a car.
We heard an explosion.

Form:
hear + object + ing  form of verb
Example:
I heard him shouting. (the action was in progress)

angry man shouting
by imagerymajestic | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Form:
hear + object + base form of verb
Example:
I heard him shout. (the action was completed)

“hear” is a stative verb

“hear” is an example of a stative (or state) verb. As with all the stative verbs, “hear” does not usually have a continuous form.

Example:
I am hearing a noise. wrong

We use “can hear” to describe hearing something at a particular moment in time.

Example:
I can hear a noise. correct

Expressions with hear

“hear that”

Meaning:
to introduce a piece of news or a rumour.

Example:
I hear that Jane is pregnant.

pregnant woman
by David Castillo Dominici | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“to hear from someone”

Form:
“hear from” + someone

Meaning:
to receive news from someone.

Examples:
David heard from Mark yesterday. Mark called him.
Have you heard from Jane? I am worried about her.

Listen

Listen is when we are concentrating on a sound. We are active. We are paying attention to the sound. It is possible to hear without listening. But it is impossible to listen without hearing.

In a language exam, to test a student’s understanding of the language, the test is called a “listening test”. It is not a hearing test.

Examples:
“Please listen to the instructions for the exam.”
“Mark, are you listening to me?”
She didn’t hear the telephone because she was listening to music.
girl wearing headphones

Form of listen

When listen has an object, we use the preposition “to“.

Form:
“listen to” + object

Examples:
I listened to the radio this morning.
Please listen to me.

If there is no object, we do not use “to”.

Examples:
“Everybody, please be quiet and listen!”

“listen” is not a stative verb. It has a continuous form which we use to describe the action at a particular moment in time.

Example:
Jane: What are you doing?
Mark: I am listening to the radio.

“listen” also has a simple form to describe a regular action or habit.

Example:
I listen to the radio every morning.

More English lessons

English lessons on our Youtube channel
ADVICE or ADVISE – The differences
The difference between AFFECT and EFFECT
Indefinite article “a” and “an”
English expressions with the verb BREAK
Tips and advice for IELTS writing task 1

English video lesson

Online English lessons and conversation

Comments

  1. Asif says

    28th January 2020 at 3:09 pm

    your expalanation is easy to understand thank you

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

English grammar ebook

English grammar ebook

Online English lessons

English lessons with a native English teacher
IELTS online course

Recent articles & lessons

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

4th June 2019

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

30th May 2019

graduation

Difference between “finally”, “at last”, “lastly” and “in the end”

22nd May 2019

maths symbols

Maths symbols and operations – English vocabulary

8th May 2019

people meeting

BACK as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb

29th April 2019

Online English lessons

English lessons with a native English teacher

IELTS tips

IELTS complete guide

IELTS complete guide (WITH EXAMPLE QUESTIONS)

1st September 2017

Bar Chart

Advice for IELTS writing task 1

19th July 2017

Smiling girl

IELTS speaking advice

18th July 2017

IELTS student Tatjana

How to pass the IELTS with a band 8

9th May 2017

IELTS student Andreea

How to get a band 8 in the IELTS

9th May 2017

Ad





Affiliate disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Additionally, CrownAcademyEnglish.com participates in other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission from purchases made through our links.

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Crown Academy of English · Privacy Policy