pay attention to somebody
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: pay attention to something
Meaning · English
Listen and notice what someone is saying
Literally: give money to someone's attention
Register: neutral
Examples
Please pay attention to the teacher
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR A2); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “pay attention to somebody” mean?
Listen and notice what someone is saying Literally: give money to someone's attention
Is “pay attention to somebody” formal or informal?
pay attention to somebody is generally neutral.