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’ describes paying attention to sounds. For example,
‘Last night I listened to my new Mariah Carey CD.’
You can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen intentionally. An imaginary conversation between a couple might go:
‘Did you hear what I just said?’
‘No, sorry, darling, I wasn’t listening.’
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