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In CAGIU, we read:

"We can use the present simple in phrases such as It says here, I hear, I gather, I see, I understand and They say, (Someone) says, (Someone) tells me to introduce news that we have heard, read, seen (e.g. on television), or been told."

Then, it provides the following example which made me ask this question:

"Professor Hendricks is at the conference and I hear she's an excellent speaker."

If I saw that sentence somewhere else, I would understood it as below:

  • I am at the conference and I hear people saying she's an excellent speaker.

Would you please shed some light on this sentence?

Em.
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Cardinal
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    The implication of I hear X in that context is "one or more people have told me" or "I have heard one or more people say" or "rumor has it". The present tense indicates that this is a current opinion going around and you are spreading the opinion. I hear is also how rumors are spread. Pssst. I hear we're getting out early today. – TimR Jun 16 '17 at 18:37
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    @Tᴚoɯɐuo has mistakenly entered the above in the comment field instead of the answer field, I think. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 16 '17 at 18:50
  • @P.E. Dant: I wasn't sure of the actual question, so I shed some light as requested. – TimR Jun 16 '17 at 18:55
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo Well shed. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Jun 16 '17 at 18:56
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo The actual question was how to understand that "I hear". – Cardinal Jun 16 '17 at 18:58
  • We cannot conclude that the speaker who says I hear... is at that conference. Those words simply report something the speaker has heard recently. It's like saying "I hear this is a good movie". You don't have to be at the movie theater to say those words. – TimR Jun 16 '17 at 19:01
  • @P. E. Dant fanx. – TimR Jun 16 '17 at 19:03
  • Native speakers would not expect that the words I hear in the sentence you cite above would indicate that the hearing was done at the conference. It's just another way of saying I understand from what I've been told at some time in the past. In fact, my assumption would be that Professor Hendricks had not yet spoken at the conference which would mean that the hearing would have had to have been based on some prior speaking event by Professor Hendricks, so I wouldn't be biased to expect that the person heard that at the conference, as opposed to sometime in the more distant past. – Brillig Jun 19 '17 at 15:31

1 Answers1

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Your understanding of the phrase

I hear

in your example

Professor Hendricks is at the conference and I hear she's an excellent speaker.

has the meaning

I've been told (perhaps directly by some people)
it is generally known

it usually means you do not have first hand experience at hearing her speak.
When you "heard" about her, was probably before the conference.

Peter
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