Father.— Wake up. It is 7 a.m.—Mother
1. Why does the story say "When she went UP to bed much later than her husband". What does "up" mean here?
2. Would it be correct to say "He saw a piece of paper on which it was written, 'Father.—
Wake up. It is 7 a.m.—Mother'?"
Mr Jones was very angry with his wife, and she was very
angry with her husband. For several days they did not speak
to each other at all. One evening Mr Jones was very tired
when he came back from work, so he went to bed soon after
dinner. Of course, he did not say anything to Mrs Jones before
he went upstairs. Mrs Jones washed the dinner things and
then did some sewing. When she went up to bed much later
than her husband, she found a piece of paper on the small
table near her bed. On it were the words, 'Mother.—Wake
me up at 7 a.m.—Father.'
When Mr Jones woke up the next morning, it was nearly
8 a.m.—and on the small table near his bed he saw another
piece of paper. He took it and read these words: 'Father.—
Wake up. It is 7 a.m.—Mother.'

Question

Answer

1. This is a cultural thing. In most English speaking countries, the majority of families tend to live in two-storey houses. The living area is downstairs, and the bedrooms and main bathroom are usually upstairs. So if you 'go up to bed',  you leave the living area for the last time that day and go upstairs.

2. Yes.

Answer

Hey there Jessica. Your first question of using the word "up" implies that the bedroom was upstairs. You could replace "up" with "upstairs", but it is more common to use "up".

"When she went upSTAIRS to bed... " - The implication is the same.

On the second question you are correct, but it would be more common to say "...on which was written..." and exclude the word "is". But either way is appropriate.

The third question is a little tricky. In order to use "on the clock" you would need to restructure the sentence. Example:

"8am was displayed on the clock when Mr. Jones woke up." This is correct, but factual. It is a very dry statement. You could use, "When Mr. Jones awoke the time on the clock read '8am'". This makes a more creative expressing, but either example would work well.

Hope this is helpful.

Answer

P.S.: Would it be correct to say "When Mr. Jones woke up on the clock was nearly 8 am?" Is there any possibity to make the correct sentence with the word "on the clock"?

Thank you!

Answers · 4

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