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Hear or Listen?

by Craig Shrives

What Is the Difference between "Hear" and "Listen"?

"Hear" and "listen" are easy to confuse because they both relate to the sense of hearing.

"Hear" means to experience sound. For example:

I hear the dogs bark every morning.

"Listen" means to apply the ability to hear. For example:

Listen to the wind blowing through the branches.

More about "Hear" and "Listen"

The verbs "to hear" and "to listen" have similar meanings, but there is a subtle difference between them.

Hear

The verb "to hear" means to experience sound. In other words, it means to perceive sound through the ears. For example:

I heard a noise outside.
My dog can't hear very well.
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. (Chinese philosopher Confucius)
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. (Writer Mark Twain)

Listen

The verb "to listen" means to deliberately apply the ability to hear. In other words, it means to pay attention to a sound. "To listen" is usually followed by "to" or "for." For example:

Listen to the drum solo.
The dog listens for the car arriving.
Do you like to listen to classical music?
There is only one rule for being a good talker: learn to listen. (Journalist Christopher Morley)
Everybody's a teacher if you listen. (Actress Doris Roberts)