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The use of "until late"



 
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The use of "until late" #1 (permalink) Sun Feb 24, 2008 20:45 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Hi

Do you find the use of until late correct and natural here??

Quote:
My children like to sleep until late on weekends.

Tom
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The use of "until late" #2 (permalink) Mon Feb 25, 2008 17:13 pm   The use of "until late"
 

I think it's more natural to say "My children like to sleep late on weekends". You can also say "My children like to have a lie-in on weekends", which means the same thing.
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The use of "until late" #3 (permalink) Mon Feb 25, 2008 18:07 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Hi Tom,

There is also the expression 'sleep in', which has the same idea.

Alan
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The use of "until late" #4 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 19:24 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Sorry, but I could not make myself clear.

Quote:
My children sleep late on weekends. (Doesn't it give the sense of night time?)
My children sleep until late on weekends. (Doesn't it give the sense of the morning time?)


So a mother who wants to talk about the moring time, can she say this:

My children sleep until late on weekends.

Tom
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The use of "until late" #5 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 19:34 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Tom wrote:
Sorry, but I could not make myself clear.

Quote:
My children sleep late on weekends. (Doesn't it give the sense of night time?)
No, Tom, it doesn't. In this sentence, the word 'late' refers to the time when the sleeping ends and the children get up.

My children sleep until late on weekends. (Doesn't it give the sense of the morning time?)
Yes, that's what it means, but we don't usually include the word 'until'.


So a mother who wants to talk about the moring time, can she say this:

My children sleep until late on weekends.

Tom

Hi Tom

Both 'sleep late' and 'sleep in' refer to sleeping longer than usual. In other words, both expressions refer to getting out of bed later than usual.
.
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The use of "until late" #6 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 19:55 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Many thanks, Amy, for the prompt and detailed answer.

So do you find the red sentence odd in the following conversation held one morning in an office.

Quote:
A- Why are you looking so tired today, Kaul?
B- Oh, I slept (very) late last night.


Tom
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The use of "until late" #7 (permalink) Sun Mar 30, 2008 20:03 pm   The use of "until late"
 

Yes, I do find it odd.

It would be more typical to say "I went to bed (very) late last night" or "I couldn't get to sleep until very late" or "It was ages before I was able to fall asleep last night".

There are any number of things you could say, but unfortunately "I slept late" is not one of them.
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