Meaning & use
hear
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To notice a sound with your ears.
Grammar: Can take an object or stand alone: I heard a noise; she cannot hear.
Patterns
- hear something
- hear someone do something
I heard a knock at the door.
Can you hear the music from here?
He did not hear her call his name.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To be told or learn news or information.
Grammar: Often with about or of: hear about the party.
Patterns
- hear about something
- hear from someone
- hear of someone
I heard that the shop is closing.
Have you heard from your sister lately?
We heard about the accident on the radio.
verbtransitivelegal
To listen to and judge a case, appeal or argument officially.
Grammar: A legal use: the court heard the case.
Patterns
- hear a case
The judge will hear the case on Monday.
The committee heard the appeal in private.
The court heard from three witnesses.
Word forms
| third person singular | hears |
|---|---|
| past tense | heard |
| past participle | heard |
| -ing form | hearing |
Common combinations
- hear from
- I hope to hear from you soon.
- hear about
- Did you hear about the new teacher?
- hear a noise
- She heard a noise in the garden.
- hear a case
- The court will hear the case next week.
- hear it
- I can't hear it over the traffic.
- hear of
- I've never heard of that band.
Synonyms and how they differ
- listen
- Listen means to pay attention on purpose, but hear only means the sound reaches you.
- catch
- Catch means to hear something briefly or just in time.
- learn
- Learn is for news or information, without the sound meaning.
- overhear
- Overhear means to hear something not meant for you.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: hear or here? hear or listen?
hear vs here
Here is the place adverb, as in come here; hear is the verb for sound, though the two sound the same.
hear vs listen
Listen is deliberate, hear is automatic.
Practice
I could hardly ___ the speaker from the back of the room.
Choose one answer.
After could, use the base verb hear. Here is the homophone, which is the tempting wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.