Particularly in your IELTS Speaking test, you might refer to the topic of SLEEP. These more complex phrases will impress the IELTS Speaking examiner.
a) To have 40 winks/to have a catnap/to have a snooze = to have a short, light sleep during the day.
b) To sleep with somebody = to have sex with somebody (to be sleeping together = to be in a sexual relationship with somebody; it is often used when the relationship is secret or when other people would not approve of it.)
c) A nightmare = a very bad dream or a terrible situation.
d) To snore = to make a loud noise as you breathe when you are asleep.
e) To hardly sleep a wink = to be unable to sleep nearly all night.
f) To toss and turn = to be unable to sleep well at night, usually because you are worried; to move around restlessly in bed because you cannot sleep.
g) Don’t lose sleep over something = to not worry about something bad you did, because it has not had a terrible effect.
h) To be fast asleep = to be in a deep sleep (the opposite of ‘to be wide awake’)
EXAMPLES
I think I might just have forty winks/a catnap/a snooze. I haven’t got to do anything for an hour or so and a little sleep will do me good.
There is a rumour that two of the teachers are sleeping together. They’re married, but not to each other!
Some people sleep together before they get married. Others find this behaviour deplorable.
It has been suggested that nightmares allow us to express our deepest fears and anxieties.
Unless we take action to protect the planet, we will face the mass extinction of species, famine and starvation. This would clearly be a nightmare scenario,
He was snoring so loud last night that he managed to wake himself up!
I hardly slept a wink last night. I was tossing and turning all night because I just can’t make up my mind whether to take the job or not.
I know you told your sister to stop being so selfish, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. I don’t think she took any notice of what you were saying.
I was fast asleep when you arrived. I didn’t hear you coming in.
I was wide awake all night. I didn’t even feel a little bit sleepy.
EXTRA
- A rumour = gossip; a piece of interesting news about a person, which may or may not be true and which spreads quickly from person to person.
- To be deplorable = to be unacceptable; to be very bad.
- The mass extinction of species = the situation in which many groups of animals die out or disappear.
- Famine and starvation = the situation in which many people die because they do not have enough food.
- To make up your mind = to make a decision.
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