Meaning: The fox and the wolf paid attention to what the owl said.
Choice of Words: Fox, wolf, listened are all verbs. They describe actions or states of being.
Alternative Expressions
The fox and the wolf were listening.
Meaning: This sentence means that the fox and the wolf were paying attention to something that was happening in the past.
Choice of Words: **The** is used to refer to a specific thing or person. **Were** is the past tense of the verb **to be**. **Listening** is the present participle of the verb **to listen**.
The fox and the wolf had listened.
Meaning: This sentence means that the fox and the wolf had paid attention to something that happened before another event in the past.
Choice of Words: **Had** is the past perfect tense of the verb **to have**. **Listened** is the past participle of the verb **to listen**.