【生活英文】我好睏,該用sleep、sleepy還是asleep ?
sleep 的意思及用法
Sleep 是動詞,指「睡、睡覺、入睡」,英英字典的解釋是 to be in the state of rest when your eyes are closed, your body is not active, and your mind is unconscious(處於閉眼、身體不活躍且頭腦無意識的休息狀態)。來看幾個例子:
Go to sleep. It’s time for bed.(去睡覺。上床睡覺的時間到了。)
I couldn’t sleep because of the noise from the fireworks.(煙火的噪音讓我無法入睡。)
She has dark circles under her eyes because she hasn’t slept well for weeks.(她眼睛下方有黑眼圈,因為她已經好幾個禮拜沒睡好了。)
除了動詞的用法,sleep 也可以是名詞,指「睡眠、睡覺的狀態」或「一段睡眠時間」。例如:
I must get some sleep. I didn’t sleep at all last night.(我必須睡一會兒。我昨晚完全沒睡。)
She often uses weekends to catch up on her sleep.(她經常利用週末的時間補眠。)
He didn’t feel the earthquake because he was in a deep sleep then.(他沒有感覺到地震,因為他當時睡得很沉。)
sleepy 的意思及用法
Sleepy 則是形容詞,指「睏的、想睡的」,英英字典的解釋是:tired and wanting to sleep(疲倦想睡的)。有幾個經常搭配的動詞,像是 feel(感覺起來)、look(看起來)、sound(聽起來)。來看幾個例子:
You might feel sleepy after taking this medicine.(吃這藥可能會讓你感到昏昏欲睡。)
You look sleepy. Did you stay up late again?(你看起來很睏。你又熬夜了嗎?)
asleep 的意思及用法
Asleep 也是形容詞,但跟 sleepy 不太一樣,它的意思是「睡著的」,英英字典的解釋則是:sleeping or not awake(睡著的或沒醒的)。另外,這個字有個很常見的慣用法叫 fall asleep,字面意思是「掉入睡著的狀態」,也就是「睡著、進入夢鄉」的意思囉。例如:
He was so tired that he fell asleep on the sofa.(他太累了,以致於他在沙發上睡著了。)
I couldn’t fall asleep because the roosters were crowing all night.(我睡不著,因為公雞叫了一整晚。)
看完今天的專欄,相信你也更加了解 sleep、sleepy 跟 asleep 之間的差別了。下次若有昏昏欲睡或不小心睡著的經驗,不妨試著用英文表達看看喔!
(本文刊載於希平方-線上學英文〈【生活英文】sleep、sleepy、asleep 都跟『睡』有關,差在哪裡呢?〉,未經授權,不得轉載。)