Tired vs. sleepy in German

chico   Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:27 pm GMT
hi all,

i am trying to learn German. my aunt and cousin speak German but i don't have a lot of time to really study with them. i was wondering if there is a way to differentiate between tired and sleepy in German.

i know that "ich bin mude" with the umlaut of course can mean either. but if i want to say i'm tired without meaning i want to go to sleep what is it?


thanks,

chico
Leonora   Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:07 pm GMT
'Ich bin müde' doesn't automatically imply you want to go to sleep. Depending on the context, it can just mean you're a little tired. 'Schläfrig', which is cognate to 'sleepy', would mean you're almost falling asleep.
J.C.   Wed Mar 04, 2009 6:32 am GMT
Hi Chico!!!
Interesting question and it got me confused because I never saw "müde" as "sleepy" since I always said "schläfrig" for that. However, if you really want to imply you're sleepy how about saying "Ich will schlafen" ?

Tschüss!!!
12345   Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:53 am GMT
In Dutch it's about the same.

Ik ben moe
Ik ben slaperig

If you use 'moe', so 'müde' and you want to say you're sleepy it's common to say 'Ik ga naar bed' or 'ik wil naar bed'. (Ich gehe ins Bett) after it to make clear you're sleepy.

Ik ben moe, ik ga naar bed.
Ich bin müde, ich gehe ins Bett.
chico   Wed Mar 04, 2009 1:37 pm GMT
thanks all,

my aunt by the way is from germany and her oldest daughter was raised there. her family was actually from prussia before the war and is a holocaust survivor.

the other i told her after church, ich gehe nach mein hause and gett in mein bett. not sure if i spelled any of that right. anyway her reply was, oh du bist mude. and i have heard them use mude quite a bit for sleepy.

they speak german at home quite a bit as my uncle speaks like a native. i can understand most of what they say but have never learned to really speak it or read and write it. i am learning now.

thanks for the clarification.

chico
Leasnam   Wed Mar 04, 2009 6:07 pm GMT
<<the other i told her after church, ich gehe nach mein hause and gett in mein bett. not sure if i spelled any of that right. anyway her reply was, oh du bist mude. and i have heard them use mude quite a bit for sleepy.
>>

Just like in English, müde can mean both "tired" (--fatigued) AND "tired" implying wanting to sleep.

Schläfrig however only means specifically "tired" in the sense of 'sleepy tired' : )