Language Activator – Ignore
Ignore/pay no attention/take no notice/not listen to/fall on deaf ears/tune out
ignore
(transitive verb)
to deliberately pay no attention to what someone does or says, and pretend it is not important or does not affect you
.My father’s always telling me what to do, but I usually just ignore him
ignore somebody’s advice/warning
.Ignoring my warnings, he dived straight into the shallow water
pay no attention/not pay any attention
(verb phrase)
to ignore someone or something, especially by not watching or listening to them
People living near the crash scene paid no attention when they heard the aircraft’s engine cut out in mid-air
pay no attention/not pay any attention to
More than half the people questioned said they did not pay any attention to political broadcasts
take no notice/not take any notice
(verb phrase)
not to let someone affect what you do or the way you feel
.Stan has fired me before. I usually take no notice and turn up for work again the next day
take no notice/not take any notice of
.He never took any notice of the baby, even when it screamed
not listen to
(verb phrase)
to ignore someone’s advice when they talk to you
.It’s because you didn’t listen to Roger that you are in this trouble now
not listen to reason not listen to sensible advice
We all warned Susan not to marry that man, but she wouldn’t listen to reason
fall on deaf ears
(verb phrase)
if your request or suggestion falls on deaf ears, it is ignored by the people who have the power to deal with it
.The workers’ demand for a wage increase has fallen on deaf ears
not want to know
(verb phrase not in progressive)
informal to not be willing to listen to people’s problems, complaints, bad news etc because you do not want to be worried by them
You’d think the government would be concerned about people sleeping rough, but they just don’t want to know
not want to know about
.If you’re going to start an argument with Alex, I don’t want to know about it
tune out
(transitive phrasal verb)
especially American to deliberately not listen to what someone is saying, especially because it is unpleasant or you have heard it before
tune out something
.He had learned to tune out the kids’ constant questions
tune something out
.There was a warning voice in the back of her mind, but she tuned it out
:Practice
:Fill in the blanks with appropriate words
.N1. Take no ————- of him. He’s just being silly
N2. As rioting continued, Mayor Warren appealed for calm, but his words fell on ———– ears
.N3. It’s because you didn’t ————- to Roger that you are in this trouble now
.N4. She ————- my question and continued her story
————- N5. Someone made a rude noise, which the teacher decided to
.N6. You never ————- to me. You just do whatever you want
N7. What’s this injection for? he asked the nurse. She paid no ————-, rolling up his sleeve in silence
.N8. It was very stupid of you to ————- your mother’s advice
:Answers
Notice/ deaf/ listen/ ignored/ ignore/ listen/ attention/ ignore