Infinitive with "zu" after modal verb?

Question

In an exercise, they ask to translate > I like to sleep in my bed which I'd translate as > Ich mag in meinem Bett schlafen However according to them my translation is wrong, and they give > Ich mag es in meinem Bett zu schlafen which however I don't understand. Questions: - is my version also correct? - is their version correct? - is there some difference in meaning?

Answer 1

'I like to sleep in my bed' - 'Ich mag das Schlafen in meinem Bett'. (refers to an experience)

'I like to sleep in my bed' - 'Ich mag es, zu Schlafen in meinem Bett'. (refers to an activity)

Example:

'It's fun to swim in Summer.' - 'Schwimmen im Sommer macht Spaß'. (experience)

'It's fun to go swimming in Summer.' - 'Es macht Spaß, im Sommer schwimmen zu gehen'. (activity)

Watch where the comma is placed. German creates clauses using comma's, so the sentence becomes easier to handle.

Example:

'I like sleeping/to sleep' - Ich mag schlafen. (experience)

- Ich mag es, zu schlafen. (activity)

So following 'I like' in German you have to put a 'something', such as the experience of sleeping in my bed. As in: I like the experience of sleeping in my bed. If you're going to put 'sleeping in my bed' as an activity, you will need to build a new clause using comma and 'zu'.

Hope that helps.