Unheard has two lives, and it is worth keeping them apart.

Unheard有兩種用法, and it is worth keeping them apart值得把它們分開來看。

The plain, literal one: a sound that nobody heard. The clock ticked on, unheard, in the empty house. Nothing emotional there — the noise simply reached no ears.

The plain, literal one比較單純、字面上的一種: a sound that nobody heard是指沒有人聽到的聲音。The clock ticked on, unheard, in the empty house時鐘在空屋裡滴答走著，沒有人聽見。Nothing emotional there這裡面沒有任何情緒成分 — the noise simply reached no ears那個聲音就只是沒有傳進任何人的耳朵而已。

The second life is the one you will meet far more often, and it is about people, not sound. When we say someone's voice goes unheard, or that a warning went unheard, we mean their words reached ears but got no attention, no answer, no action. This is a word of frustration and often of injustice: the unheard are the people nobody in power listens to.

The second life是第二種用法 is the one you will meet far more often你會更常遇到, and it is about people, not sound而且是關於人，不是關於聲音。When we say someone's voice goes unheard當我們說某人的聲音沒人理會, or that a warning went unheard或說一個警告沒人理會, we mean their words reached ears but got no attention, no answer, no action我們的意思是他們的話有傳到別人耳朵裡，卻沒得到關注、沒有回應、也沒有行動。This is a word of frustration and often of injustice這是一個帶著挫折感、也常帶著不公平意味的詞: the unheard are the people nobody in power listens to指的是掌權者根本不理會的那些人。

Notice the very common pattern go unheard — her complaints went unheard for years — where go plus a past participle means "stay in that state, with nobody doing anything about it". You will meet the same shape in go unnoticed and go unpunished.

Notice the very common pattern go unheard請注意「go unheard」這個很常見的搭配 — her complaints went unheard for years像「她的抱怨多年來都沒人理會」 — where go plus a past participle means "stay in that state, with nobody doing anything about it"這裡 go 加過去分詞的意思是「一直處在那個狀態，沒人採取行動」。You will meet the same shape in go unnoticed and go unpunished你也會在 go unnoticed 和 go unpunished 裡看到同樣的結構。

There is one more thing to separate out.

There is one more thing to separate out還有一件事要另外分清楚。

Unheard of, written with of, is a fixed phrase and does not simply mean "not heard". It means never known to happen, shocking because it is so unusual: it was unheard of for a woman to run a bank back then. It can also mean completely unknown — an unheard-of little band.

Unheard of, written with of要寫成 unheard of，中間有 of, is a fixed phrase是一個固定片語 and does not simply mean "not heard"意思不是單純的「沒聽到」。It means never known to happen它的意思是「從沒發生過」, shocking because it is so unusual因為太罕見而讓人震驚: it was unheard of for a woman to run a bank back then像「當年一個女人去經營銀行是聞所未聞的」。It can also mean completely unknown它也可以指「完全沒沒無聞」 — an unheard-of little band比如一個沒沒無聞的小樂團。

When it comes before a noun, English usually hyphenates it: an unheard-of amount of money. Treat unheard of as its own separate expression, not as unheard with a preposition attached.

When it comes before a noun當它放在名詞前面時, English usually hyphenates it英文通常會加連字號: an unheard-of amount of money像 an unheard-of amount of money。Treat unheard of as its own separate expression要把 unheard of 當成一個獨立的片語來看, not as unheard with a preposition attached而不是 unheard 後面剛好接了個介系詞。