Wake up meaning
Wake up means to stop sleeping. It can also mean to make someone stop sleeping.
wake up
wake up · woke · woken · waking
I usually wake up at seven.
Wake up meanings and examples
3 meanings, each with its own CEFR level. A level marked ~ is our estimate: Oxford and Cambridge give none for that meaning.
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1
Stop sleeping
wake up
- I usually wake up at seven.
- I woke up at five and couldn’t sleep again.
- Did you wake up when the storm started?
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2
Make someone stop sleeping
wake somebody up
- Please don’t wake the baby up.
- The storm woke us up in the night.
- Could you wake me up at six tomorrow?
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3
Start to pay attention or understand something important
wake up
- Wake up! The teacher asked you a question.
- People need to wake up to the problem of plastic.
- It’s time you woke up and saw what he’s really like.
Café orders
New friends
At the airport
Slova
Use wake up in real conversations
- Learn new words with picture cards
- Talk with Felix, an AI tutor, about the things you love
- Short lessons at your level, a few minutes a day
Is wake up separable?
When you stop sleeping, wake up has no object: I woke up early. When you make someone stop sleeping, the person goes in the middle: wake me up, wake the kids up.
A wake-up call is a phone call that wakes you in a hotel, or a shock that makes you see you must change: The bad grade was a wake-up call.
Verb tenses for wake up
| Present | I wake up · she wakes up |
|---|---|
| Past | woke up |
| Present perfect | have woken up |
| -ing form | waking up |
Common mistakes with wake up
What learners often say, and what to say instead.
Wrong: Please wake up me at seven.
Right: Please wake me up at seven.
A pronoun goes between wake and up.
Wrong: I waked up very early today.
Right: I woke up very early today.
The past of wake is woke. The participle is woken.
Wrong: I wake up at seven and get up from the bed at eight.
Right: I wake up at seven and get up at eight.
Get up already means leave your bed. No from the bed.
Synonyms and opposites of wake up
Words close to it, and words that mean the opposite.
Similar
- get upget out of bed; you wake up first, then get up
- wakemeans the same but sounds more formal or literary
- come tobecome conscious again after fainting
Opposite
- fall asleepstart sleeping
- sleep insleep later than usual
- go to sleepstart to sleep, usually in bed
Wake up quiz
Three quick questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why.
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1My alarm didn’t ring, so I ___ late.
Wake up means stop sleeping.
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2Choose the right sentence.
The past is woke, and the pronoun goes in the middle.
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3“Losing that match was a real wake-up call.” What does it mean?
A wake-up call is a shock that makes you see a problem.
Find your level
The phrasal verbs test adapts as you answer, from A2 to C1, and shows which ones you miss.
- get upA1get out of bed after you sleep
- take upB1start a new hobby or activity
- put upB1fix something to a wall, or raise something higher
- look upA2find information in a dictionary, a book or online
- go upB1become higher, like a price, a number or a temperature
- come upB2be mentioned or talked about
- give upB1stop doing or having something, often a habit
- break upB1end a romantic relationship
Wake up FAQ
Questions people ask about wake up.
Wake up vs get up: what is the difference?
Wake up means stop sleeping. Get up means get out of bed. I wake up at 7, but I don’t get up until 7:15.
What is the past tense of wake up?
Woke up. The forms are wake, woke, woken: I have woken up.
What is a wake-up call?
It is a call from a hotel to wake you. It also means a shock that shows you need to change: The test was my wake-up call.
Use wake up in real conversations
In Slova you learn new words with picture cards, then use them when you talk about the things you love. A few minutes a day, at your level.