Hear or listen (to)?

‘Hearing’ is an event; it is something which happens to us as a natural process. ‘Listening’ is

an action; it is something we do consciously.

Compare
hearing is an event listening is an action.

.
I listened very carefully to what she said
Suddenly I heard a noise. Someone was in
and wrote it all down.
the garden.
Do you listen to the radio in bed?
Did you hear the thunder last night?
George! Listen to me! I have something
[on the phone] The line is very bad. I can’t
important to tell you.
hear you.

Sometimes we can use either hear or listen to, depending on whether we want to emphasise
the event or the action:
Did you hear that interview with David Beckham on the radio yesterday? (emphasis on the
event)
Did you listen to that interview with David Beckham on the radio yesterday? (emphasis on the
action)
I love hearing/listening to the sound of falling rain.
We don’t normally use hear in the continuous form. We often use hear with can:
[on an internet phone call]
I can hear you really clearly.
Not: I’m hearing you really clearly.
Warning:
We use to after listen before an object:
Every morning I listen to my Mozart CD while I’m having breakfast. It prepares me mentally
for the day.
Not: Every morning I listen my Mozart CD …
We use listen without to if we do not mention the object, or if it is a discourse marker:
Meena, listen! I don’t want you staying out late!
Listen, I was wondering if you could help me. (discourse marker beginning a new topic or
phase of a conversation)
The music was beautiful. We just sat there and listened.
Exercise
Q1 - Did you ____ that noise just now?
hear
listen
listen to
Q2 - I ____ the CD on my Walkman.
heard
listened
listened to
Q3 - She was talking very quietly; did you ____ what she just said?
hear
listen
listen to
Q4 - OK, this is important, so please ____ carefully.
hear
listen
listen to
Q5 - I can't ____ you properly- the phone line's really bad.
hear
listen
listen to
Q6 - Did you ____ about the accident?
hear
listen
listen to
Q7 - Be careful- I've ____ a number of strange things about them.
heard
listened
Q8 - I told him about it, but he never ____ me.
hears
listens
listens to
Q9 - The music next door was so loud, we couldn't ____ the TV.
hear
listen
listen to
Q10 - 'What did he say?'
'I wasn't hearing.'
'I wasn't listening.'
Q11 - Didn't you ____ the doorbell?
hear
listen
listen to