0

Here is next sentence:

I have lain awake under the skins.

I understand the meaning but the sentence structure makes me confuse. I can't actually understand why the word "awake" stands here like that. If I wrote a sentence, I'd write it like this:

I have lain and awoken under the skins.

Would you explain to me what "awake" doing here in its form?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    What are the skins?
    – KarlG
    Commented Jun 23, 2018 at 10:14
  • Have you looked up awake in a dictionary? Why do you think “and awoken” (a verb phrase) would fit better than “awake” (an adjective)?
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jun 23, 2018 at 12:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Why say lain awake rather than lain and awoken?

You would not say awoken if you had never gone to sleep in the first place. For instance, if you had been lying there for an hour, unsuccessfully trying to get to sleep . . .

Also, lain and awoken uses two separate verbs. But lain awake is a a single verb followed by an adverb; it describes how you were lying. So, syntactically, the two sentences are essentially different.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .