Word of the Day: listen
Word class: verb
Simple meaning: to pay attention to a sound or to what someone is saying.
Listen to the pronunciation
What does listen mean?
To listen is to give attention to sound. It is different from hear. Hearing can happen without effort, but listening is usually deliberate. You may hear traffic through a window while you listen to a narrator’s voice and follow the story.
The most common pattern is listen to followed by the thing or person receiving attention: “listen to the chapter” or “listen to your teacher.” We also use listen for when waiting for a particular sound and listen carefully when close attention is important. The present form is listens, the past form is listened, and the -ing form is listening.
Examples
- Listen to the first paragraph before you read it on the page.
- She listened for the clock in the quiet hallway.
- The group listened carefully and then discussed the narrator’s tone.
Use the word while you listen
Open The Happy Prince and Other Tales and listen to one complete story. Pause after a scene that creates a strong feeling. Write down one sound, pause, or change in pace that helped the narrator create that effect. This turns listening into an active language exercise.
Related words: hear, attend, notice, concentrate.
Swedish: lyssna · German: zuhören · French: écouter.
Sources and audio credit
The meaning, forms, and usage were checked against Wiktionary. BookAud wrote the explanation and examples. The US English pronunciation was recorded by Dvortygirl and is available from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.