Thread: he's sleeping / he's asleep

What's the diference between "he's sleeping" and "he's asleep"?

As far as I know, none at all. The only factor you should note here is that in English we use the word "fast" in relation to sleeping. Somebody can be "fast asleep", which means they are in a deep sleep and won't be roused very easily. You can say "he's fast asleep" but not "he's fast sleeping".

EDIT: Also, the process of being awake, settling down and then sleeping in English is called "falling asleep" (e.g. My brother has fallen asleep.), and, again, you can't say "he has fallen sleeping."

Technically speaking "asleep" is an adjective, whereas in "he is sleeping," "is sleeping" is a present continuous verb (I think :P).

Фактически, был очень хорошим вопросом, Оля.

in fact - в действительности, на самом деле, вобще-то
In fact it was a very good question - На самом деле, это был очень хороший вопрос

They are the same, but there are two reasons why you might say one or the other.

If someone recently fell asleep, you would say "He's asleep now."
If someone has been sleeping for some time, it is more common to say "He's sleeping."

But you won't get into any trouble by using one instead of the other.

Thanks to all!

Originally Posted by paulb

If someone has been sleeping for some time, it is more common to say "He's sleeping."

Is it? That's a nuance that I've never noticed. Perhaps it's a slight difference between American and British English...

Originally Posted by paulb

They are the same, but there are two reasons why you might say one or the other.

If someone recently fell asleep, you would say "He's asleep now."
If someone has been sleeping for some time, it is more common to say "He's sleeping."

I don't think that's really true, I'd say they are used completely interchangeably.

Well I certainly use them interchangeably, for what it's worth.