Slapende

Slapende is the attributive present-participle form of the Dutch verb slapen (to sleep). It functions as an adjective describing someone or something that is asleep and is most commonly placed before a noun: de slapende reiziger, een slapende baby. The base present participle of slapen is slapend, which is used in non-attributive contexts or in predicative constructions, while slapende is the form typically used when describing a noun directly.

Etymology and form: Slapen yields the present participle with the suffix -ende, producing slapend, and in attributive position the form becomes slapende before a noun. This pattern is shared with other -ende adjectives in Dutch, such as werkende (working) or lopende (running).

Usage and nuance: Slapende conveys a temporary or current state of sleep and is common in descriptive or narrative text. It can refer to humans, animals, or in some cases metaphorically to dormant or inactive things, as in a dormant interest being described as slapende. The expression is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence or appears in a title.

See also: Slapen; Present participles; Dutch adjectives.