phrasal verb🧩 phrasal verb
listen to
to pay attention aurally
What it means
To pay attention to a sound, person, or piece of audio with your ears. It implies active attention, not just hearing background noise.
Words like “listen to” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- I love listening to podcasts about history while I cook dinner.
- You should listen to your grandmother — she knows what she's talking about.
- The students listened to the recording twice before answering the questions.
- He never listens to me when I try to give him advice about money.
Where it comes from
Inseparable phrasal verb. Compare with 'hear' (passive perception) versus 'listen to' (active attention) — a key distinction in English.
Related phrasal verbs
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