C2 · 38 words

Sleep medicine

The third of a life that nobody notices until it goes wrong.

One verb on this list splits three ways, and which sense is meant depends on what stands around it. With nothing after it, verschlafen is the morning disaster: Ich habe verschlafen, the alarm went off and I did not. With a direct object it means sleeping through a stretch of time, den ganzen Sonntag verschlafen, and from there it has moved into business German, where a firm that hat die Digitalisierung verschlafen missed a change it should have seen coming. The participle has also become an ordinary adjective: verschlafene Augen are still half closed, and ein verschlafenes Dorf is a sleepy village where nothing much happens. So no object means the alarm, an object means time or a chance lost, and an adjective ending means drowsiness. These pages explain words and give no medical advice.

The words

Verb (3)

schlafwandelnto sleepwalkVerbC2

Als Kind hat er öfter geschlafwandelt und morgens nichts davon gewusst.As a child he often sleepwalked and knew nothing about it in the morning.

Not separable: er schlafwandelt; past participle geschlafwandelt.

verschlafento oversleep; (adjective) drowsyVerbC1

Er hat verschlafen und kommt mit verschlafenen Augen in die Frühbesprechung.He overslept and turns up at the morning meeting with sleepy eyes.

Not separable; irregular like schlafen: verschlief, hat verschlafen. Also an adjective: ein verschlafenes Dorf.

wegdämmernto drift offVerbC2

Beim Fernsehen ist sie auf dem Sofa weggedämmert.She drifted off on the sofa in front of the television.

Separable; perfect with sein.

This list belongs to The body, health and care — 46 lists and 1708 words that can also be practised as a whole.

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Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 38 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.