Awake And Wake Differences

In British English, the verbs awake and wake are irregular.

  • Awake – awoke – awoken (GB and US)
  • Wake – woke – woken (GB and US)

In American English, these verbs can be regular.

  • Awake – awakened – awakened (US only)
  • Wake – wakened – wakened (US only)

Use

Wake is the most common of these verbs. It can mean ‘stop sleeping’ or ‘make somebody else stop sleeping’. Wake is often followed by up.

  • Don’t wake him up.
  • I woke up several times in the night.

Waken can be used instead of wake up in a literary style.

  • The prince wakened the princess with a kiss. (= The price woke the princess up with a kiss.)

Manjusha Nambiar

Hi, I am Manjusha. This is my blog where I give English grammar lessons and worksheets.

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