english verbiage

[anansay]

Is it "wakes up" or "awakens"?

Is there a difference?

past tense:

He woke up. vs. He awoke.

Again: any difference?

See, I went to french school and even then I never understood the various past tenses, like past, past perfect, past partiple, etc. Anybody feel like offering a short english lesson on that topic?

Comments

[david_drake]

I'd be interested in seeing that lesson myself. I don't know much in the way of textbook English, but I probably would say He awakened. But that's just me.

[booklady]

It depends on how formal you wish to sound. "Wakes up" is a bit more colloquial.

[anansay]

Ah. Thank you for that. :)

[anonymous]

there is absolutely no difference between the two

AWAKENS/WAKES UP is, of course, present tense

and

AWOKEN/WOKE UP is past tence (both of them)

the only difference is that AWAKENS is, as someone mentioned, formal and WAKES UP is considered more informal. And that is it.

[physixxx]

damn these anonymou sposts... that wa sme, by the bye.

[david_drake]

I'm pretty sure "awoken" is not a word.

[physixxx]

I'm pretty sure "awoken" is not a word.

it is. generally it's the past-participle of "awake"
can be used like:

in first person (past): I awoken with a start! (considered archaic)
in first person (perfect form): I have awoken!
in third person (perfect form): He has awoken!

It is considered formal (just as awaken is) and I think it's also considered passive voice.

"woke" came from "awoke/awoken"... it may not be used much nowadays, but it's available for rent. :wink: