What does overhear mean?
Word: Overhear
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Overhear means to hear what someone is saying by chance, when they are not talking to you.
How do you spell overhear?
Syllables: o - ver - hear
Tricky part: The last sound is spelt like what your ears do, not like the word that means in this place. Mixing the two gives overhere.
Watch out for: overhere, overheer
Memory tip: You need an ear for this, and those three letters come right at the end of the word.
Overhear in a sentence
Example 1: I did not mean to overhear, but the two aunties were talking very loudly.
Example 2: Speak softly in the library or others will overhear you.
Example 3: We had to whisper so that Mum would not overhear our birthday plan.
Fun Fact
In Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, the whole plan depends on two characters who overhear a talk that their friends have set up for them.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
reharove
a) overhead
b) overdraw
c) overhear
d) overheat
Show answer
c) overhear. Each of the others brings in a letter the jumble does not have; here, two r's are needed.
Word Makeup
Choose the prefix that completes the word:
____hear
a) ovur
b) ovir
c) ovar
d) over
Show answer
d) over. This prefix is the everyday word for above or across, as in overtake and overcoat.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
overrhear
a) a
b) v
c) h
d) r
Show answer
d) r. One r closes the first part of the word, and the next letter is h.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) whisper
b) overhear
c) listen
d) conversasion
Show answer
d) conversasion. Conversation ends in tion, not sion; the rest are correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Who is most likely to overhear something?
a) a girl sitting near two people chatting
b) a boy reading a letter alone at home
c) a man asleep in an empty railway coach
d) a woman walking by herself in a quiet park
Show answer
a) a girl sitting near two people chatting
2. What is the kindest thing to do if you overhear a friend's secret?
a) tell the whole class
b) keep it to yourself
c) write it on the board
d) repeat it at the bus stop
Show answer
b) keep it to yourself
