Can you hear me?

Good afternoon everyone!!

What do we say when we're on the phone and we want to check that the other person can hear us?  Do we say.....

A.) Can you hear me?

or

B.) Are you listening?

As many of you know, my primary contact with students these days is via Skype classes.  Being that most of my classes are being offered online now, the issue of being heard on the computer has been important to talk about.

The correct answer is B.  It's always best to say, Can you hear me?   (When testing out audio devices like phones and Skype.)

Let's go further into this....

What IS the difference between Listen and Hear?

We listen to things that are more specific...for example, I could say, I'm listening to music, or I'm listening to the radio.

On the other hand, hear relates to how loud something is.  If 
we're testing a phone or a Skype call and we want to know if the other party can hear us we ask if the other party can hear us.

Picture this, You're at a party and the music is turned up really loud.  You're trying to talk to someone but that person can´t hear you so you say, 

“I can´t hear you, the music is too loud! Let´s go outside to finish this conversation.”

So, remember that LISTEN relates to specific items like music or a radio program whereas HEAR relates to noise and checking in if audio equipment is working properly.


Now that you understand the distinction, does this phrase make sense?

How do you interpret this sentence?

Stay tuned...my next post will be all about interpreting this difference!

Don't forget to check out this post to learn all about will and would...and this post to review phrasal verbs!!