Difference between 好，熟 and 着

[izaura]

I got a bit confused on my last classes about these three complements, especially about their usage in following phrases

睡好，睡熟 and 睡着. Can anyone explain me the difference between these phrases?

[panda23]

I think 睡着 means "sleeping" whereas 睡好 means "sleep well/soundly"

E.g., 他在睡着。"He is sleeping."

你昨晚睡好吗？"Did you sleep well last night?"

Your third one I haven't seen before.

[semantic nuance]

a quick answer:

睡著 : asleep

睡好: sleep well

睡熟: usually, we don't use 睡熟; we say 睡得很熟 sleep soundly; sleep like a log.

[muirm]

I think the OP was asking about 睡着 (shuìzháo as opposed to shuìzhe), but I'm not sure. I think of 睡着 (shuìzháo) as "to fall asleep", meaning to actually enter the sleeping state (so 睡不着 means "couldn't fall asleep"). This "着“ complement roughly means to successfully complete your action, often very similar to the 到 complement. Other than 睡着 you also hear 找着 (meaning 找到). I polled my coworkers about other verbs that commonly take this 着 and there was a little dissension. Some said that anything that takes 到 can also take 着, (e.g. 买/听/看着了吗？), while others seemed to think that didn't sound very good.