The idea
Present tense: ich schlafe, du schläfst, er/sie/es schläft, wir schlafen, ihr schlaft, sie/Sie schlafen. Learn the sentence pattern gut schlafen; bei jemandem schlafen together with the principal parts.
| Form | Deutsch |
|---|---|
| ich | schlafe |
| du | schläfst |
| er/sie/es | schläft |
| wir | schlafen |
| ihr | schlaft |
| sie/Sie | schlafen |
| Präteritum | schlief |
| Perfekt | hat geschlafen |
| Imperativ (du) | Schlaf! |
| Muster | gut schlafen; bei jemandem schlafen |
Meaning and sentence pattern
Schlafen changes a to ä in du schläfst and er schläft. Staying asleep is not a movement, so the perfect uses haben.
Learn this pattern as a unit: gut schlafen; bei jemandem schlafen. The six situations below show the verb with concrete objects, complements or circumstances.
Form check
Er schlaft lange.Er schläft lange.The third-person singular has ä; schlaft is the ihr form.
Examples
- Ich schlafe bei offenem Fenster besser.I sleep better with the window open.
- Du schläfst im Zimmer zum Garten.You sleep in the room facing the garden.
- Das Baby schläft trotz der Musik weiter.The baby keeps sleeping despite the music.
- Nach der Nachtfahrt schlief ich bis mittags.After the overnight journey I slept until noon.
- Wir haben in der Berghütte erstaunlich gut geschlafen.We slept surprisingly well in the mountain hut.
- Schlaf heute lieber eine Stunde länger.It is better to sleep an hour longer today.
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Watch out
The third-person singular has ä; schlaft is the ihr form.
Try it yourself
du ___ (schlafen, Präsens)
Show answer or example answer
schläfst
schläfst: this is the second-person singular present form.
er/sie ___ (schlafen, Präteritum)
Show answer or example answer
schlief
schlief: this is the third-person singular simple past.
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Show answer or example answer
geschlafen
geschlafen: in this use the perfect tense is hat geschlafen.
Practice round
Answer three questions, then rebuild three German sentences. We keep your score.
du ___ (schlafen, Präsens)
er/sie ___ (schlafen, Präteritum)
Perfekt: er/sie hat ___
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
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Read the six situations aloud, compare the verb forms, and complete the present, past and participle checks. Then write a new sentence that follows gut schlafen; bei jemandem schlafen.