Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That’s English! The Spanish Ministry of Education’s official distance learning English course. To find out more about That’s English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Today’s podcast explains the difference between the verbs hear and listen, as they are sometimes confused. First of all, let’s check that you know their Spanish translations and definitions. We’ll also hear and listen to some examples to distinguish them. Have you noticed that I have just used both verbs? There are some occasions where either verb is possible. Starting with the verb hear. Hear is the verb oír in Spanish. It is an irregular verb. Both its past and participle form is heard. It has various meanings: It can mean to receive or become conscious of a sound. · She heard a noise outside. It can mean to be told information about something. · Have you heard the news? It can also mean to listen to someone or something with great attention and this is where the confusion lies between its synonym verb, listen. However, hear is more frequently used when it is for a formal event, or also in a court. Listen to these two examples: · An audience gathered to hear him speak. (as in, he gave a formal speech) · The case will be heard by the High Court. The verb to listen is escuchar in Spanish. It is a regular verb so its past tense and participle form is listened. As we have learnt previously, it also means to give attention to someone or something, that’s to say, you pay particular attention to it. Here are some examples: · She is listening to a podcast. · What kind of music do you listen to? · Listen to this! You can win a car just by answering three simple questions. In order to help you understand the difference, think of hear as something which happens to us as a natural process. We hear sounds that come to our ears, without us trying to hear them. Listen, on the other hand, is an action, something that we consciously do, we choose to listen to certain things, you do not usually choose what you hear. Now, let’s listen to some more examples using hear and listen. · I can hear the church bells ring every morning. I don’t particularly want to hear them, but I can. · I hope you’re listening to me! When we listen, we focus on sounds, we choose to hear a specific sound, so I hope you’re paying attention! Finally let’s hear these two examples: · I can hear some music. (coming from somewhere, it’s very faint). · I am listening to some music. In this case I am listening to a song that I want to listen to. Time to go, I can hear my phone vibrating! We hope that helps to understand the difference between the two verbs. Thanks for listening! We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! Please follow us on social media. We look forward to hearing from you. Bye for now!