Sleep: Phrasal verbs with Georgie 😴

Hello, I'm Georgie from BBC Learning  English. Don't 'doze off' – you've got  

to 'stay up' to learn some phrasal verbs  related to 'sleep'! Let's get into it!

Let's start with the process of  falling asleep. To sleep comfortably,  

most people 'lie down', which means 'to get  into a flat, usually horizontal position'.

'They are lying down on the grass.  She is lying down on the bed.'

'stay up' is the opposite of going to sleep. It  means 'to continue to stay awake longer than you  

usually would'. We often hear the combination  'stay up late' or 'stay up past my bedtime'.

'We let the kids stay up till  midnight on New Year's Eve.'

'nod off' and 'doze off' are synonyms, and  they mean 'to fall asleep slowly or gradually,  

often without meaning to or intending  to, and usually during the day'.

'Dad has dozed off again.' 

'This man is nodding off because he's  staying up a lot later than usual.'

Now, compare 'dozing off' and 'nodding  off' slowly to 'crash out'. This is when  

'you fall asleep very quickly because  you are exhausted'. Imagine crashing  

out on the bed because you're so tired. You  often sleep deeply when you've crashed out.

'After an exhausting day at work,  

she completely crashed out when she  got home. She slept for 12 hours.'

If you 'sleep through something', it  means 'a loud noise or disturbance  

didn’t wake you up'. You can sleep through  an alarm. You can sleep through fireworks.

'I was so exhausted that I slept through  my alarm, and I was late for work.'

If you have an important decision or  problem to think about, you might want  

to 'sleep on it'. That means 'you think  about it overnight before deciding'.

'I'd love to come to your party, but it's my dog's  

birthday on the same day. Let me sleep  on it, and I'll let you know tomorrow.'

Hm, you didn’t 'doze off', did  you? If phrasal verbs are tricky,  

don’t freak out - just 'sleep on it' and  come back to it tomorrow. See you next time!