hear or listen?

Hello!
My question is: do you say: "Have you ever listened to Madonna?"
or "Have you ever heard Madonna?"
What is the difference?

Both are correct. You could have heard Madonna without listening to Madonna. We hear more things than we listen to.

listening implies action (= active hearing), where hearing is more passive

listening = intentful/purposed/focused hearing

Both are correct and most of the time they mean the same thing. However, as others have indicated, there can be a subtle difference in meaning. Or not. Depending on the context.

For example the questioner could have meant: "Have you ever *listened* to Madonna?" Meaning have you ever really paid attention to her music and lyrics as opposed to just playing her CDs as background noise.

Still, most of time there is no real difference in the two questions.

"Have you ever *listened* to Madonna?" means that you like/liked her music at some point and listen/listened to it with pleasure.

"Have you ever heard Madonna?" means that you have been exposed to her music at some point in your life, whether you like/liked it or not.

1. I can not hear your voice on the phone.
2. I can not listen to your voice on the phone.


Is there a subtle difference or not between these two sentences?

Very well executed M, I like this one.

"1. I can not hear your voice on the phone.
2. I can not listen to your voice on the phone."

The difference is that no one would say 2.

Yes, there is a difference here. By the way "cannot" in this context is one word not two.

1. I cannot hear your voice on the phone.
Means there is some reason, perhaps noise or a volume problem or even a hearing problem, that is preventing your interlocutor (I just love that word) from actually, physically hearing you.

2. I cannot listen to your voice on the phone.
Means that, for whatever reason, you don't want to hear (listen) to your interlocutor. Perhaps because you are angry with her or she has a telephone presence that is unpleasant, etc. This could be temporary or permanent depending on the reason. This could also be said to someone in person for similar reasons (leaving out the "on the phone" part of course).

<<"1. I can not hear your voice on the phone.
2. I can not listen to your voice on the phone."
>>

can not = cannot = can't
combination of can + not is not forced in English--you don't *have to* combine them. It is mere preference.

'I can not hear your voice on the phone' = Unable to hear

'I can not listen to your voice' = I am unable to hear/can not brook hearing your voice--this would indicate an unwillingness or inability to endure hearing, as if one were angry with, irritated with the speaker on the other end of the line