Learn English – Can you “Hear back”

phrasal-verbsword-usage

I am almost sure what will be the answer to this question, but still wanted to ask it anyways.

Can you use "hear back from sb" in a sentence?
Let's say something like:

We have not heard back from you regarding …

or should it be just:

We have not heard from you regarding …

I checked a few dictionary sources but I couldn't find "hear back":
http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/hear
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hear

Best Answer

Both are OK, but they have slightly different meanings. In the case of heard back from, there is the implication that the speaker had spoken/written to the person already, and was expecting a response. In the case of heard from, it simply means that the speaker was expecting a call from the person, not necessarily that there had been an earlier communication to which they were expecting a response.

So heard back from is somewhat more restrictive.

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