schlafen
German, verb
schlafen is spelled S-C-H-L-A-F-E-N (8 letters) and appears 66 times per million words in written German, the 1,293rd most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schlafen is a German verb meaning “to sleep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Schläfen is a different word: “plural of Schläfe”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “sich im Schlaf befinden, auf gewisse Art und Weise den Schlaf verbringen können, durch das Schlafen eine…”.
What does schlafen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to sleep
Ich habe diese Nacht gut geschlafen.
- 2
to sleep on something; to wait and think before making a decision
Ich werde eine Nacht darüber schlafen.
- 3
to sleep with; to have sex
noun
- 1
feminineplural of Schläfe
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. sich im Schlaf befinden, auf gewisse Art und Weise den Schlaf verbringen können, durch das Schlafen eine gewisse Verfassung erlangen 2. übernachten 3. Geschlechtsverkehr ausüben 4. unaufmerksam sein
noun: 1. Vorgang unbewusster körperlicher Ruhe und Erholung
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of schlafen
- schläft present singular third-person
- schlief past
- geschlafen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- schlafend participle present
- schlafe first-person indicative present
- schläfst indicative present second-person
- schlaft indicative plural present
- schlafest second-person singular subjunctive
- schlafet plural second-person subjunctive
- schliefen first-person indicative plural
- schliefe first-person formal rare
- schliefst indicative preterite second-person
- schlieft indicative plural preterite
- schliefest formal rare second-person
- schliefet formal plural rare
- schlaf imperative second-person singular
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to schlafen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is schlafen in German?
schlafen appears 66 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).