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Thread: sleep vs. dream

  1. #1
    aclerki's Avatar
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    Question sleep vs. dream

    Hi everyone.

    There is a text where the word "dream" cannot be used because of its positive connotations; the word nightmare cannot either, for some other reasons. Can "sleep" be used instead? For example, does the following sentecne make sense:

    I want to wake up from this sleep.


    Thanks a lot!

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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Quote Originally Posted by aclerki View Post
    Hi everyone.

    There is a text where the word "dream" cannot be used because of its positive connotations; the word nightmare cannot either, for some other reasons. Can "sleep" be used instead? For example, does the following sentecne make sense:

    I want to wake up from this sleep.


    Thanks a lot!
    You could write that, but it's not good writing. "from this sleep" adds nothing.
    Why not think of some better description of the experience you want to wake from? Even a descriptive adjective before "sleep" would be better than what you've got.

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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Quote Originally Posted by belove View Post
    I think sleep and dream are two word differentdifferent wordsthat should not [COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]be [/COLOR]compared it.
    (Not sure if the changes I made are what you were trying to say? I'm not particularly good at editing as I find it easier to just rewrite the sentence, so perhaps a teacher may have a better suggestion.)

    Why not compare words? It can be a good way to understand their similarities and/or differences. "Sleep" and "dream" are quite different so you couldn't interchange them.

    Not a teacher.
    Last edited by SanMar; 01-Aug-2011 at 06:53.

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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Quote Originally Posted by aclerki View Post
    There is a text where the word "dream" cannot be used because of its positive connotations;
    Thanks a lot!
    'Dream' is a fairly neutral word. You can have pleasant and unpleasant dreams.

    He wanted to wake out of this unpleasant/unnerving/distressing/embarrassing/etc dream.
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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Creepy dreams which are far worse than nightmares in my opinion.

    On that note, sweet dreams to all!

    Not a teacher.
    5jj likes this.

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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Thanks everyone!

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    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: sleep vs. dream

    Quote Originally Posted by fivejedjon View Post
    'Dream' is a fairly neutral word. You can have pleasant and unpleasant dreams.

    He wanted to wake out of this unpleasant/unnerving/distressing/embarrassing/etc dream.
    Or simply bad dream.
    5jj likes this.

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