Learn English – If “I woke up at 10” is okay, what about “I slept at 10”

grammaticalityindian-englishprepositions

When did you wake up?

I woke up at 10.

But then if I say, “When did you sleep?”

I slept at 10. – seems difficult to digest!

That's because sleep is a process that includes duration.

I slept for 10 hours. – this way, it's digestible!

But when I mention the point of time, is it okay?

Strange thing is, if I'm describing my habit/routine, it's perfectly fine..

I sleep at/by 10


I request not to take this question 'logically'. It's about English. Nobody is perfect in timing. Please don't argue that you cannot have 'perfect time' of sleeping because you don't know when you slept. I'm talking about the sentence structure and not precise timings.

By the way, “I slept at 10” is very common in India.

Best Answer

No, we would not say "I slept at 10". (AmE). Either say

  • I was sleeping at 10. (this means you were also sleeping some before and after 10) or

  • I {fell asleep/went to sleep} at 10. (means you were not sleeping before 10.)