[Vocabulary] 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!

aclerki said:

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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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.

belove said:

I think sleep and dream are two [STRIKE]word different[/STRIKE]different wordsthat should not be compared [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE].

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(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.

aclerki said:

There is a text where the word "dream" cannot be used because of its positive connotations;
Thanks a lot!

Click to expand...

'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.

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

On that note, sweet dreams to all!;-)

Not a teacher.

Thanks everyone!

fivejedjon said:

'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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Or simply bad dream.