Hear vs. Listen? See vs. Watch? Stop Confusing These Common English Verbs!

- Here, listen. See, look, watch.

I have to constantly correct these words in my classes,

because they're very, very similar in meaning

but there are tiny, tiny differences.

- No, no, no, no.

There's a difference between hearing and listening.

- You're not hearing me,

you're not understanding what I'm saying.

- You're not hearing me. You're not hearing me.

- There's a difference between being heard

and being listened to.

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- Starting with hear, this is a passive action.

Someone says something, makes sounds.

You don't actively do anything to hear.

It just hits your ear. That's it.

For example- (person farts)

I just heard someone fart.

It wasn't my choice. The sound just hit my ear.

We also use this ability.

So when you are not sure, is my voice loud enough?

The question is, can you hear me?

Hear, because you're asking about ability.

However, listen is an active action.

You try to hear someone.

Also, I don't know if you've seen "Cobra Kai" or Netflix.

It's really good. You should watch it.

There's a really good quote that shows the difference

between these two verbs in one sentence.

- There's a difference between being heard

and being listened to.

They heard you, but they listened to me.

- "Can you hear me?" asks about ability.

"Are you listening?" asks are you paying attention

to what I'm saying?

Hmm. Okay.

No, that's not everything.

There's another quote from another movie.

"White Men Can't Jump." Great movie.

Have a listen.

- There's a difference between hearing and listening.

White people, y'all can't hear Jimi.

- So wait, what? That's confusing, no?

Well, actually, no.

For example, his girlfriend is really angry at him

because he always farts.

She tells him, "Hey, stop farting."

He wants to say, "Look, I'm paying attention to you, okay?

I'm listening to your concerns."

"Yes, but are you hearing me?"

Does he fully understand what she's saying?

So there is a difference between listening to someone

and hearing them.

Also, pronunciation.

You might want to stress the word hear.

If you mean it like this to say,

completely understand what I'm saying.

Here are some other examples.

- Heather, you're not hearing me.

- You're not hearing me. You're not hearing me.

- You're not hearing me.

You're not understanding what I'm saying.

- Okay. Visual verbs.

How do they work?

Well, it's the same thing with see, look, and watch.

See is the same as hear.

It talks about ability and it talks about something

entering your eyeball.

For example, "I saw Aly in the street today

in only underpants."

By the way, this is my regular nightmare.

Like I constantly have nightmares that I forgot my clothes

and I'm just walking in the street.

If this ever happens, just wake me up, please.

But yeah, you didn't choose to have this image

in your eyeballs.

So you saw this.

See is the appropriate verb. Again, it's passive, like hear.

And again, it's also for visual ability.

For example, if you are at a concert, and this is you,

if you are very, very short and there are tall people

in front of you, you might say this, again,

see is the appropriate verb because it's talking about

ability, visual ability.

"I'm too short. I can't see the stage."

But look and watch are different.

Yes, they both have the intention to see something.

You try to see something.

But look is for static things.

Things that don't really move.

You look at things in a museum.

Watch is for things that move things with motion.

Think of a movie.

I'm going to watch a movie.

However, this one is kind of strange.

With movies you can also say, "I'm going to see a movie."

Also very important, see is related to experience.

If you want to say,

"Hey, you know that movie about this spider guy?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, I've seen that."

I've seen it. You use see for experience.

Yes, you could use watch, but see is more common.

Also with music, same thing.

The verb with intention is listen,

however "You know that song by that British woman,

she sings about stuff?"

"Oh, Adele, yeah, I heard her song yesterday."

See and hear. We use them for experience.

So let me know, have you seen the new Spider-Man movie?

Have you heard Adele's new sung?

Don't worry, this video will last a long time

because there's always a new Adele song

and there's always a new Spider-Man movie.

Just to clarify the difference between watch and look.

You are in a museum.

This guy, this girl, they're both what? at paintings.

Remember the paintings don't move.

So, looking at the painting.

Also remember with the verb look

you need this preposition: at,

not, "I'm looking the painting."

No, "I'm looking at the painting."

Same with her. She's looking at this painting.

This guy, however, is doing something different.

This dog is peeing on her leg.

So this has motion. It's an action.

And he has the intention to, hmm.

So which verb?

"I'm watching this dog."

So also we need to talk about how this affects another verb.

So the dog is peeing, right?

So this verb pee, what form should it be in?

I'm watching this dog pee on this woman.

Or I'm watching this dog peeing on this woman.

Well, it all depends on time.

How long were you watching or looking.

For example, if you saw this action from start to finish,

maybe it's a short action, use infinitive.

"I'm watching this dog pee on this woman."

But if you saw the action in the middle of it happening,

like you saw the beginning but not the end,

or the end but not the beginning,

or if the action took a really long time,

use the ing-form, because it kind of contracts:

I was watching while this was happening.

"Oh my God, I was just watching that dog

peeing on that woman."

So this all depends on what exactly happened

and what you want to say about it in regards to time.

Whether it was a long time, a short time,

did you see all of it or just a piece of it.

But to be honest, you can't really go wrong with this.

If you mess up this verb form, don't worry.

No one's gonna think you're stupid. You're gonna be fine.

It's kind of like pus perfect in that no one really cares,

it's just if you want to be extra specific about the time.

That's it.

Alright, let's do a test to check

that you've remembered everything.

In this test you are gonna be asked five questions.

You have to decide which verb to use

and if there's another verb, what form should it be in?

I'll give you each situation. Remember there are five.

Pause the video, say out loud what you think it is

or write down what you think the answer is and then check.

Okay, let's get going.

We'll start easy. This is a visual one.

So first, which verb goes here?

You mm, Harry Styles, blarg, on a fan.

The verb for blarg is puke.

You could also say vomit,

but for this example, we'll use puke.

So which verb and what form of this?

Again, it depends what you want to say about the situation.

If you want to say, I didn't want that image, use see.

I saw Harry Styles.

And this verb, honestly, again, you could use both,

puke or puking, both are fine.

But what would feel natural?

I saw Harry Styles puke on a fan.

This feels like a short action.

You probably saw it from beginning to end,

so we'll use that infinitive.

I saw Harry Styles puke on a fan. Gross.

Could you use watch? Yes, absolutely.

This is something in motion

and you have the intention to see it.

So yes, see and watch, both okay.

Oh, whoops.

As long as it's past tense, that's very important.

Number two, again, super easy.

This is talking about ability to this, which verb?

Of course, it's here because it's ability.

"What? I can't hear you.

They're so loud."

This one, it's with intention.

So of course, it's-

I'm listening with intention.

The neighbors are in the middle of an argument.

So this verb, what do you think?

Again, to be honest, you could use both,

but because it's like in the middle of it,

it depends though.

If the argument lasts a long time, you might say,

"I'm listening to them arguing.

It's been going on for hours."

But again, it doesn't really matter

which one you want to use here.

You sit down in front of YouTube.

The video is from Papa Teach Me,

the best place to learn English on YouTube.

Which verb should you use?

And this verb, which form should it be in?

Again, it's with intention and there's motion.

So.

And because you're watching from start to finish,

infinitive, "I'm gonna watch Aly teach an English lesson."

Which reminds me, if you haven't already,

please do the thing, this and this.

And finally number five,

she walks in and her friend is completely naked.

He wants to say, "No! Don't mmm!

I'm naked." What should he say?

Which verb should he use?

Of course he's saying, "Don't this" with intention.

"Don't look, I'm naked."

How did you do in the test?

Did you get everything right?

If you got some or all of them wrong, don't worry.

You can just go back, watch it again,

clarify the bits that you missed.

Let me know how well you did in the comments.

Also, let me know what do you want to study

in a future video?

I'll see you in the next class. Bye.

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