Listen VS Hear

Dear XamoYELA!

Aren't the words 'listen' and 'hear' the same thing? What's the difference?

Thanks,

Tom


Hi Tom!

Yes, both listen and hear mean that we understand 'noise' or 'sound', but there is a difference.

LISTEN means to pay attention to something or someone (or concentrate on).

e.g. I'm listening to you. (I am paying attention to what you are saying)

HEAR means to notice a sound.

e.g. I heard a loud thump! Something must have fallen down outside! (I noticed a sound.)

So, let's look at these sentences and clarify the difference a bit more:

 1. I listen to music.  (I concentrate on the sounds.)

 2. I hear the wind-chimes. (I am able to notice the sound)

This difference is the reason why we call the task of 'listening' when learning a foreign language 'Listening', because we pay attention to understand and concentrate on what we hear from the recording.

This difference is also why we call people who are hard of hearing 'hard of hearing', because it is difficult for them to notice sounds.

I hope I helped! :)

A @ xamoYELA