Here you will learn advanced English expressions related to sleep. Are you a light or a heavy sleeper? Learn how you can describe bad and good sleep in English.
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Speak Better English with Harry - Episode 288
list of English expressions about sleep
Harry
English expressions related to sleep
Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to my English learning podcast Speak Better English.
Here I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language. I do that by helping you with your English pronunciation, your grammar, your use of phrasal verbs and, of course, conversational English expressions.
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INSANITY: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
What are we going to talk about today?
Today, I’ll give you the English expressions related to sleep. I’ll give you the meanings and examples. Let’s start:
Here are some expressions that you can use to describe good sleep.
How to describe good sleep in English?
out like a light
Meaning: when you switch out the lights in your room, it goes dark immediately, so it means that you lie down on the bed and fall asleep immediately
Example:
He went to bed, and within 10 seconds he was out like a light.
🧒 How did you sleep last night?
👩🏼🦰 Oh, I went out like a light.
Meaning I fell asleep really quickly, slept really well and woke up feeling wonderful.
to sleep like a baby
This is an interesting expression. It really depends on how babies sleep. In my experience of babies, they don’t always sleep wonderfully, but when they do sleep, they sleep peacefully and long.
Meaning: to sleep really well, long and peacefully
Example:
He went to bed after a long, hard day of work and slept like a baby.
English expressions related to sleep
And a similar expression
to sleep like a log
A log refers to a long piece of wood cut from a tree. Of course, a log can be lying in the forest for years and years, and nobody ever disturbs it.
Meaning: to sleep solid, to sleep long and undisturbed
Example:
This was the most wonderful sleep I had for a long time; I slept like a log.
So what about the opposite?
Here are some English expressions to describe bad sleep.
How to describe bad sleep in English?
not sleep a wink
Meaning: not sleep at all, fail to fall asleep
Examples:
Last night was terrible; I didn’t sleep a wink. The neighbour was knocking, the music was banging, the traffic was going; it was a disaster.
I had to get up really early for the train, so I didn’t sleep a wink.
We can also say
not get a wink of sleep
Example:
The kids were sick all night; I didn’t sleep a wink.
English expressions related to sleep
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And in a similar way, we can have a bad night’s sleep when we
toss and turn
Meaning: to move around in your bed being unable to settle and fall asleep
Example:
I tossed and turned half of the night and eventually fell asleep just before dawn.
Many of us are what we call light sleepers.
a light sleeper
Meaning: someone who wakes up at the slightest noise
Example:
I am a light sleeper; I always wake up if the traffic starts early on the streets.
The opposite of a light sleeper is
a heavy sleeper
Meaning: someone who is able to sleep through the noise and doesn’t wake up easily
Example:
My husband is such a heavy sleeper, he never wakes up when the baby is crying!
English expressions related to sleep
And then the last one
to lose sleep over something
When we lose sleep over something, it means there’s something on our mind, and as a result, we spend some of the night thinking about it.
We usually use this expression in the negative
to not lose sleep over something
Meaning: to not worry about something too much
Example:
If it’s only happening once or twice per day, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
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English expressions related to sleep
When we’re talking about sleeping, we often use these two expressions:
a catnap
forty winks
Meaning: a quick little sleep, usually during the day
Examples:
When I have a catnap in the afternoon, I always feel refreshed in the evening.
I was busy all day, so I grabbed a quick forty winks after lunch.
If you ever watch your pet cat sleeping. They sleep and then they wake up, and then they go to sleep again, and then they wake up. They have lots of little periods of sleep during the day.
Okay, here my expressions related to sleep:
out like a light
- to sleep like a baby
- to sleep like a log
- not sleep a wink
- toss and turn
- a light sleeper
- a heavy sleeper
- not lose sleep over something
- catnap
- forty winks
That’s all for today. If you have any comments or questions or you want to get in touch, then you can do so on www.englishlessonviaskype.com
Always happy to hear from you. Thanks for listening and join me again very very soon.
More information
For more information on English grammar rules, English collocations and English idioms, check out the links below:
Other ways to say FUNNY in English
Uncountable and plural nouns in English
Check out advanced English lessons and detailed information on the IELTS exam and the British Council website.
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