Questions & Answers about Dein Sohn schläft jetzt.
Why is it dein instead of deine?
Dein means your when talking to someone informally. Because the word for son (der Sohn) is masculine and is the subject of the sentence (Nominative case), we use the basic form dein. If it were a feminine word, like daughter (die Tochter), you would add an -e and say deine Tochter.
How would I say this if I were speaking formally to a stranger?
You would use the formal word for your, which is Ihr (always capitalized). The sentence would become: Ihr Sohn schläft jetzt.
The dictionary says to sleep is schlafen. Why is it spelled schläft here?
Schlafen is a slightly tricky verb because it changes its main vowel when using he, she, it, or the informal you. Since dein Sohn falls under he, the a gets an umlaut to become ä. So, er schläft means he sleeps.
Does schläft mean sleeps or is sleeping?
It translates to both! German doesn't have a separate -ing tense for things happening right now. Depending on the situation, schläft can mean sleeps or is sleeping. Here, the word jetzt (now) tells us that is sleeping is the most natural English translation.