Timeline for Is there something incorrect about the phrase "fall back asleep"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
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| Nov 18 at 19:04 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | @EACurrent (1) I've converted your comment to a 'comment'; it addresses another comment rather than the question proper. // (2) Sophie is almost correct; ' ... came back drunk' uses what is arguably a multi-word verb (come back = return) in a subject-orientated depictive construction, with 'drunk' an adjective describing 'his' state when he came back. But 'He fell back asleep' uses adverbial 'back' to modify 'fall asleep' (which again, some would see as unary: compare 'wake up' = 'awaken' [intransitive, here]. Or perhaps to modify 'asleep'. The positioning of the adverb is odd. | |
| Nov 18 at 18:55 | comment | added | Sophie Swett | @EACurrent Well, I'm not sure why you call it the same construction; the two constructions produce different kinds of meanings. To me, it seems like "came back drunk" is "came back" modified by "drunk," whereas "fell back asleep" is "fell asleep" modified by "back." [thanks @Edwin] | |
| Nov 18 at 17:42 | comment | converted from answer | EACurrent | @Sophie Swett It does look like the same construction. It would be as if it were saying, "He awoke and fell back asleep". It's the same as. "He went to town and came back drunk". (I'm sorry I can't figure out how this websites commenting works. I was trying to reply to the comments at the bottom of the page.) | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 14:54 | comment | added | Sophie Swett | That doesn't look like the same construction at all. "He came back drunk" means "he came back, and he was drunk when he came back." "He fell back asleep" does not mean "he fell back, and he was asleep when he fell back." | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 11:19 | history | answered | Greybeard | CC BY-SA 4.0 |