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Shafqat Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

are you hearing me or can you hear me

which is most appropriate to say
are you hearing me or can you hear me
thanks
  

Top answer

Can you hear me? for a simple inquiry about volume and clarity. Are you hearing me?

— Mister Micawber

  • Can you hear me?
  • for a simple inquiry about volume and clarity.
  • Are you hearing me?
  • for ' Are you paying attention to my (relatively lengthy and rather irate) message?
  • '
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12 Answers
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Can you hear me? for a simple inquiry about volume and clarity.
Are you hearing me? for 'Are you paying attention to my (relatively lengthy and rather irate) message?'
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In MM's second example I would find "Are you listening to me?" more natural.

Verbs of sense like see, hear and feel are not often used in the present continuous. To distinguish something happening now from a habitual situation we often susbstitute "do you see/hear..." with "can you see/hear...".
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Sorry, but I don't think so... "Are you hearing me?" is often used in such contextes as MM stated.
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Pieanne<>Sorry, but I don't think so... "Are you hearing me?" is often used in such contextes as MM stated.
Still, I've found two examples in The New York Times with:

'Are you hearing me?''

"Are you hearing me? He said ..."

But I have to agree with J. Lewis too.
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I think that, in this instance, "are you hearing me?" doesn't really refer to the ability of hearing, but rather mean "Are you paying any attention to me?" "Are you taking in what I'm saying?"
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I agree, and this is what MM said.
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I agree with J. Lewis

"Can you hear me?" is like that you are asking other people if they can hear your voice.

"Are you listening to me?" is questioning others that whether they pay attention to what you are saying or not.

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I think "are you hearing me" more or less means "are you processing these words of mine?" "are they reaching your intellect/intelligence/brain?"
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Hear is a stative verb; you cannot use ING.
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AnonymousHear is a stative verb; you cannot use ING.
Not quite correct. The usage is more limited, but not impossible.

Late at night:
Wife: I heard a funny noise in the kitchen. I think there's a burglar in the house.
Husband: You're hearing things. Go back to sleep.

A: They say that taxes are going up nex
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