"I would like you to sleep."

Translation: Ich möchte, dass du schläfst.

[Mt8iMWXn]

Why dass?

[stepintime]

In German, the phrasing goes "I would like (also: want) that you sleep", it doesn't work with an infinitive.

[agarcia13]

What about "Ich möchte dich zu schlafen"?

[AbunPang]

No, that construction “want/would like [object] to [verb]” doesn’t exist in German. You have to use a dass clause if the “wanter” and the subject of the verb are different people.

[Uberling]

What's wrong with "Ich würde gerne dass du schläfst."

[AbunPang]

You can translate “would like to do something” as würde gern(e) etwas tun, but you can’t use würde gern(e) for “would like that (something happens)” because gerne is literally something along the linse of “gladly”, and “I would gladly that you sleep” doesn’t make sense in English either.

[Uberling]

Thanks!