Wake up means to stop sleeping, or to make someone else stop sleeping. When the person you wake is a pronoun, it goes between “wake” and “up”: Wake me up at seven. “Wake up to” + a problem or fact means to finally realise it: People are slowly waking up to the problem of plastic waste.
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wake up (at + time); wake + person + up; wake up to + fact/problem
- I usually wake up before my alarm, even at weekends.
- Could you wake me up when we reach the border? I want to see the mountains.
- Many companies have finally woken up to the need for flexible working hours.
What changed
First versionI woke up from the noise at three in the morning.
RevisionI woke up because of the noise at three in the morning.
It is tempting to use “from” for the cause. But “wake up from” names the state you come out of: wake up from a nap, from a bad dream. To give the cause, use “because of”, or, more naturally, start the sentence with the noise itself: The noise woke me up.
Wake up means to open your eyes; get up means to get out of bed. There can be half an hour between them: I wake up at 6:30, but I don't get up until seven. So when you say what time you start your day and leave your bed, use “get up”: I get up at seven.
Your turn
I ___ at 3 a.m. because of the thunder, but I stayed in bed and soon fell asleep again.
Show the answer
woke up — The person stayed in bed and soon fell asleep again, so they only woke up: “woke up”. “Got up” would mean they got out of bed, which contradicts the second half of the sentence.
Describe a typical weekday morning. Say what time you wake up and what or who wakes you.
My cat usually wakes me up at 6:40 on weekdays because she wants her breakfast.
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