went afraid to bed

Cube   Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:43 pm GMT
Hello!

Is "he went afraid to bed" possible in English ? It sounds a bit strange, but "he went hungry to bed" sounds okay.

Thanks for your help
User   Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:48 pm GMT
No, neither of those make any sense.

It should be:
He went to bed afraid.
He went to bed hungry.
Guest   Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:52 am GMT
'He went hungry to bed' is ok
'He went to bed hungry' is ok
'He went to bed afraid' is ok.
'He went afraid to bed' isn't.
Axel   Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:37 pm GMT
Why? The structure of the sentence is similar... then ??
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:47 am GMT
"He went hungry to bed." isn't right.
humour   Tue Dec 05, 2006 2:34 am GMT
>>"He went hungry to bed." isn't right.<<

Sure as hell! He should first be properly fed ;)
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:46 pm GMT
Guest

>>"He went hungry to bed." isn't right<<

Are you a native speaker? This IS correct, if somewhat idiomatic. Google it and see some examples.
User   Tue Dec 05, 2006 3:33 pm GMT
>> >>"He went hungry to bed." isn't right<<

Are you a native speaker? This IS correct, if somewhat idiomatic. Google it and see some examples. <<

Actually, yes, after reading it again, this one is certainly comprehensible. but "He went afraid to bed" is not.
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 4:31 pm GMT
<< but "He went afraid to bed" is not. >>

Why not?
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:45 pm GMT
Guest

I don't think there is any particular logical reason, it's just the way it's said. It seems quite old fashioned now though, probably partly due to the fact that most people these days in English speaking countries do not go hungry to bed! I think it definitely has connotations of food being genuinely scarce. I think, for example, if for some reason I had not had a chance to have dinner before going to bed, I would say 'I was hungry when I went to bed last night' and not 'I went hungry to bed'. But if I was telling a story about a poor Victorian family who could only afford one meal of gruel a day, I might well write 'They would often go hungry to bed'.
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:52 pm GMT
And actually I think for my above example of 'I was hungry when I went to bed last night', you could substitute 'I went to bed hungry', but not so easily 'I went hungry to bed'. I think, as I said, this implies that hunger is a serious problem, as opposed to your stomach just rumbling a bit when you go to bed.
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:12 pm GMT
I see, but what is wrong with "He went afraid to bed."?
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:39 pm GMT
Guest

It just sounds wrong to a native Enlish speaker's ears. Maybe there is a particular reason, but I'm afraid I don't know what it is, all I know is that 'I went afraid to bed' does not sound right and it is unlikely any native speaker would utter it.
Guest   Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:49 pm GMT
"Are you a native speaker? This IS correct, if somewhat idiomatic. Google it and see some examples."

I am a native speaker, and I disagree that it is correct.

Results 1 - 10 of about 21,400 for "went to bed hungry". (0.23 seconds)

Results 1 - 10 of about 204 for "went hungry to bed". (0.10 seconds)

Hmm. It seems that Google doesn't agree with you either. I wonder why you tried using as support something that shows you are wrong. I guess it's because you're a moron.
Guest   Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:58 am GMT
Interesting to note: Google returns one result for "went afraid to bed":

Antimoon Forum: Discuss learning English and the English language
went afraid to bed, 1, Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:48 pm. •, Pronunciation of Laura, 13, Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:55 am. •, answer me, 8, Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:43 am ...
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