To Hear vs to Listen To

Retrieved October 12, 2022 from https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1535_questionanswer/page30.shtml

QUOTE

We use hear for sounds that come to our ears, without us necessarily trying to hear them! For example, 'They heard a strange noise in the middle of the night.'

Listen is used to describe paying attention to sounds that are going on. For example, 'Last night, I listened to my new Mariah Carey CD.'

So, you can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something intentionally. An imaginary conversation between a couple might go:

'Did you hear what I just said?'

'No, sorry, Darling, I wasn't listening.'

END QUOTE

https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-hear-listen-quiz.htm

https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/273.html

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/confusing_words/hear_listen.htm