slaap ("to sleep") and rus ("to rest") are among the first verbs you will use to describe a day. Both are regular, both take het in the perfect — het geslaap, het gerus — and that last point is more important than it looks: English speakers, and speakers of related languages, often expect a "state" verb like sleep to behave specially. In Afrikaans it does not. This page covers their forms, the everyday combinations gaan slaap, lekker slaap and uitrus, and the warm bedtime farewell Slaap lekker.
The forms, side by side
| Form | slaap (sleep) | rus (rest) |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (om te) slaap | (om te) rus |
| Present (all persons) | ek / jy / hy slaap | ek / jy / hy rus |
| Perfect (past) | het geslaap | het gerus |
| Future | sal slaap | sal rus |
| Imperative (sg.) | Slaap! | Rus! |
Both verbs are fully regular: one present form for everyone, ge- plus the stem in the perfect (geslaap, gerus), and sal + infinitive for the future. Note that slaap has a long double aa throughout — it stays slaap in the participle too: geslaap, never geslap.
Die baba slaap eindelik — moenie 'n geluid maak nie.
The baby is finally asleep — don't make a sound.
Ek het heerlik gerus na die lang stap.
I rested wonderfully after the long walk.
The het rule: even state verbs take het
Here is the insight worth carrying away. Some languages split their perfect auxiliary between "have" and "be," and reserve "be" for verbs of motion and changes of state. Afrikaans does not: it uses het ("have") for essentially every verb, including quiet state verbs like slaap and rus. So it is ek het geslaap ("I slept"), not ek is geslaap — even though sleeping is a state, not an action with an object.
Ek het sleg geslaap — die bure se hond het heelnag geblaf.
I slept badly — the neighbours' dog barked all night.
Het jy goed geslaap?
Did you sleep well?
Ons het die hele middag onder die boom gerus.
We rested the whole afternoon under the tree.
gaan slaap: going to sleep
To say someone goes to sleep or goes to bed, Afrikaans uses gaan slaap — literally "go sleep," with gaan ("go") plus the bare infinitive slaap. This is not really a future "going to"; it is the everyday way to express heading off to bed and the change from being awake to being asleep. You will hear it constantly at night: Ek gaan nou slaap ("I'm going to bed now").
Dis al laat — ek gaan nou slaap.
It's late already — I'm going to bed now.
Die kinders moet teen agtuur gaan slaap.
The children have to go to bed by eight o'clock.
In the perfect this becomes het gaan slaap ("went to bed"): Sy het vroeg gaan slaap ("she went to bed early") — two bare infinitives after het, no ge- on either.
Hy het gisteraand baie vroeg gaan slaap.
He went to bed very early last night.
lekker slaap: sleeping well
The adverb lekker ("nice, pleasant") combines with slaap to mean sleep well / sleep deeply — lekker slaap. It is the natural, idiomatic way to talk about good sleep, far more common than any literal "sleep well" calque. You slaap lekker when you have a good night, and you wish it on others as a farewell (see below).
Ek het gisternag heerlik lekker geslaap.
I slept really well last night.
Slaap jy lekker in die nuwe bed?
Are you sleeping well in the new bed?
The farewell: Slaap lekker
This brings us to one of the warmest set phrases in the language: Slaap lekker — the standard "sleep well / good night" you say to family and friends at bedtime. It is an imperative (slaap) plus lekker, said with affection rather than as a command. It is the Afrikaans equivalent of "sleep tight," and it is among the social formulas every learner should know by heart.
Nag, my kind — slaap lekker.
Night, my child — sleep well.
Slaap lekker, en moenie van môre se eksamen droom nie!
Sleep well, and don't dream about tomorrow's exam!
uitrus: resting up
rus is the base of the very common separable verb uitrus ("to rest up, to get rested"). The uit- ("out") adds a sense of fully resting, recovering your energy — close to English "rest up." Being separable, the prefix detaches in a main clause (ek rus eers uit) and the perfect infixes ge- (uitgerus).
Rus eers lekker uit voordat ons verder ry.
Rest up properly first before we drive on.
Na die vakansie het ons almal heeltemal uitgerus gevoel.
After the holiday we all felt completely rested.
Notice uitgerus doing double duty in that last example: it is the participle of uitrus, but it also works as an adjective meaning "rested" ('n uitgeruste reisiger, "a rested traveller").
Common mistakes
❌ Ek is gisternag sleg geslaap.
Incorrect — slaap takes het in the perfect, not is.
✅ Ek het gisternag sleg geslaap.
I slept badly last night.
The perfect auxiliary is het, even for a state verb like sleep. Is geslaap is wrong.
❌ Ons is die hele middag gerus.
Incorrect — rus also takes het, not is.
✅ Ons het die hele middag gerus.
We rested the whole afternoon.
Same rule: het gerus, never is gerus. Afrikaans uses het for almost everything.
❌ Ek het gisteraand geslap.
Spelling error — slaap keeps its long aa: geslaap.
✅ Ek het gisteraand geslaap.
I slept last night.
The double aa of slaap stays in the participle: geslaap, not geslap. A single a would change the vowel completely.
❌ Ek gaan slaap lekker.
Wrong for a goodnight wish — the fixed farewell is Slaap lekker (this sentence only means 'I'm going to sleep well').
✅ Slaap lekker!
Sleep well!
To wish someone good night, use the fixed imperative phrase Slaap lekker, not a rearranged version. (Ek gaan lekker slaap, "I'm going to sleep well," is a fine sentence — but it is a statement about yourself, not a goodnight wish.)
Key takeaways
- slaap and rus are regular: perfect het geslaap / het gerus, with het — never is — even though they are state verbs.
- Keep the long aa in geslaap (not geslap).
- gaan slaap = "go to bed / go to sleep"; the perfect is het gaan slaap (two bare infinitives, no ge-).
- lekker slaap is the idiomatic "sleep well"; Slaap lekker is the bedtime farewell — learn it as a fixed phrase.
- uitrus ("rest up") is the separable derivative of rus: perfect uitgerus, which doubles as the adjective "rested."
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