Who doesn’t like to sleep? Falling into a deep slumber after a productive day, nothing better than that. And there are at least two day dedicated to sleep: March 15th is Napping Day, and March 19th is World Sleep Day.
How sleeping or napping is viewed depends on the culture. In some cultures, sleeping less or pulling all-nighters is viewed positively. Though theoretically, we all know that being sleep deprived has some serious consequences and has a negative effect on your coordination, reasoning, critical thinking skills, and reaction time among other things.
In Japan however, there is an actual word for napping in public, “inemuri”, and taking a nap on the subway for example is socially accepted.
What to say instead of "schlafen"
But back to the topic at hand: vocabulary and expressions around the word and topic “schlafen”. Let’s start with verbs that you can use instead of schlafen (more or less). As with all synonyms, every word has a different connotation. I noted the verb’s conjugation. All of the following verbs are conjugated with haben in the present perfect.
😴 schlafen (schläft, schlief, geschlafen) – to sleep
ruhen (gehoben, reg) – to rest
schlummern (reg.) – to snooze, to slumber
dösen (reg.) – to doze
pennen (coll., reg.) – to crash, to sleep – For some reason, secondary school (Schule) is sometimes also called “die Penne”, and the student would be “der Pennäler”.
pofen, ratzen (coll., reg.) – to kip (Brit.), to sleep
knacken (coll., reg.) – to sleep, to kip (also: to crack, to click)
in Morpheus’ Armen ruhen / liegen (reg., lag, gelegen) – to be in the arms of Morpheus (Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams.)
ein Nickerchen machen (reg.) – to take a nap (from middle high German nücken meaning “to nod” or “to snooze”, Nickerchen is the diminutive of Nicker meaning “little sleep or snooze”)
Mittagsschlaf halten (hält, hielt, gehalten) – to take a nap after lunch, to take a siesta
eine Mütze voll Schlaf nehmen (nimmt, nahm, genommen) – lit. to take a hat full of sleep; to take a nap, to rack out
There are different ways to express that somebody is sleeping very deeply.
😴 schlafen wie ein Bär – to sleep like a bear
😴 schlafen wie ein Murmeltier – to sleep like a groundhog
😴 wie ein Toter schlafen – to sleep like a dead man
😴 schlafen wie ein Stein – to sleep like a rock
😴 den Schlaf des/der Gerechten schlafen/tun (tut, tat, getan) – to sleep the sleep of the just
Verbs with "schlafen"
Next we are going to look at verbs which contain the word schlafen but have a different meaning than “to sleep”. The asterisk * indicates that it is a separable prefix verb. For example: aus*schlafen => ich schlafe aus. Some of the verbs are conjugated with sein in the Perfekt.
😴 schlafen – to sleep
😴 aus*schlafen – to sleep in
😴 verschlafen – to oversleep
😴 ein*schlafen (sein) – to fall asleep
😴 entschlafen (sein)- to pass away, to depart (euphemism for “to die” in both languages)
😴 durch*schlafen – to sleep through the night
😴 herum*schlafen – to sleep around
😴 sich hoch*schlafen – to sleep one’s way up
Other words with schlaf- or Schlaf
The next words are not all verbs but nouns and adjectives that contain the verb stem schlaf- or the noun Schlaf.
😴 der Schlaf (no plural) – sleep (also grit or sleep in your eyes)
😴 der Mittagsschlaf – midday nap, nap taken after lunch; also das Mittagsschläfchen
😴 der Beischlaf (old fashioned) – intercourse
😴 ein*schläfern (reg., haben) – to put to sleep (for animals)
😴 unausgeschlafen, schläfrig – tired, sleep deprived
😴 ausgeschlafen – rested
😴 die Schlafmütze, -n – night cap, bedcap; but more often used in the sense of sleepyhead or dozy devil – The dwarf Sleepy in “Snow White and the seven dwarves” is called “Schlafmütz” in German.
Speaking of fairy tales, “Sleeping Beauty” is called “Dornröschen” in German which means “little thorn rose”. However, we do say “Dornröschenschlaf” when talking about a really long sleep.
😴 das Schlaflied, -er – lit. sleep song; lullaby
😴 schlafwandeln (sein or haben) – lit. to sleep stroll/promenade; to sleepwalk
😴 schlaftrunken – lit. sleep drunk; drowsy, half asleep
Sleep in Culture
Please note that some of the links below are affiliate links and I will earn a small commission if you purchase through those links. There are no additional costs to you.
Book and Movie: Schlafes Bruder
📕🎥 “Schlafes Bruder” (Brother of Sleep), a novel by Austrian writer Robert Schneider from 1992. The title refers to Hypnos, the god of sleep, and his brother Thanatos, the god of death, from Greek mythology.
The protagonist Elias is born in a small village in Austria at the beginning of the 19th century. When he is five, he falls into a trance and wakes up with yellow eyes and a deep understanding of music. However, this makes him a misfit in the eyes of the villagers, and he really only has two friends, his cousins Elsbeth and Peter. While Elias is in love with Elsbeth, Peter has the same feelings for Elias. In the end, the genius of Elias is lost, love is unrequited, and Elias tries to kill himself by not sleeping, though in the end it is the deadly nightshades he took in order to stay awake that kill him.
For a summary/interpretation see a video here.
It was made into a movie in 1995 which won multiple awards and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1996.
🎵Johann Sebastian Bach: Komm oh Tod, du Schlafes Bruder (Choral BWV 56), also featured in the movie.
First and Second Sleep
😴😳🙏💏😴
Before people had electricity, they would go to bed a lot earlier than we do today, probably around 9pm, depending on the season. It wasn’t unusual for many of them to wake up in the middle of the night and be awake for some time. Nowadays, we would think we have a sleeping disorder but it used to be quite normal. Prof. Roger Ekrich researched the topic of the first and second sleep and found many references in over 500 documents from Europe and the US. It was recommended that the awake time at night be used for prayer, meditation, or sex.
Sleep in Art
🎨 Sleep and dreams are often a motif in art, there is even a book about sleep in art by Meir Kryger which looks really interesting, or you can read about sleep in art and literature here.
Feature image: emrah özaras auf Pixabay
