wake、waken、awake、awaken四个动词都可作“醒来”，“唤醒”讲，在不少情况下可以换用。但略有区别。
1.wake 指“醒；醒来；唤醒；弄醒”，最为普通用词，比较口语话用词，后面常接up。比如：
One morning I woke up and felt something was wrong.一天早上我醒来时感到有些不对劲。It was cold and dark when I woke at 6:30.我6点30分醒来时，天又冷又黑。She went upstairs to wake Milton.她上楼去叫醒米尔顿。
2.waken指“醒来；睡醒；唤醒；弄醒”，其后可与up连用。比如：The noise outside wakened her.那外面的噪声吵醒了她。The child had just wakened. 这孩子刚醒。I was wakened by a knock at the door. 敲门声把我吵醒了。My mother wakened everyone up at six every morning.我妈妈每天早上六点唤醒每一个人。
3．awake指“（使）醒来”。比如：
I awoke from a deep sleep. 我从沉睡中醒来。He awoke to find her gone.他醒来发现她已经走了。Her voice awoke the sleeping child.她的声音惊醒了睡着的小孩。
awake可表示警觉、毫无睡意等含义。比如：I awoke at midnight, wondering what was happening.我半夜醒来，感到奇怪不知发生。
4.awaken指“（使）醒来”，其后可跟to+名词或者动词不定式。比如：She awakened to the sound of birds singing.她醒来听到鸟的叫声。We awakened to find the others gone.我们醒来发现其他人已经走了。He was awakened at dawn by the sound of crying. 黎明时他被哭喊声吵醒。He was snoring when José awakened him.侯赛叫醒他的时候他还在打呼噜。
waken与awaken两词比较正式，常用被动结构。比如：The baby was awakened by a loud noise.一声巨响将婴儿闹醒。The students were wakened by the strange sound.学生们被奇怪的声音吵醒。
这四个都可表示思想上、精神上的“觉醒”。比如：
We are tired of this. We need some new interest to wake us up.我们疲惫了，需要某种新的兴趣振奋一下。His speech is bound to awake old fears and hostilities. 他的发言必然要激起昔日的恐惧和敌对情绪。
Her lecture wakened new interest in medicine.她的讲座重新引起了人们对医学的兴趣。I gradually awakened to the realization that our marriage was over.我逐渐意识到我们的婚姻结束了。
