Verbs in Spanish may seem hard to learn. It is totally understandable. As a Spanish learner, you are constantly presented with tons of verbs that require time and effort to memorize. One of them is dormir, which often translates to ''to sleep'' in English. You are probably not going to feel sleepy after learning that dormir is a stem-changing verb and can also be conjugated as a reflexive verb. However, with a few simple rules, you should be able to quickly master this verb.
Present
| Yo | duermo | Nosotros | dormimos |
| Tú | duermes | Vosotros | dormís |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | duerme | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | duermen |
Examples:
- Si duermo en el día, no puedo dormir bien en la noche. -- If I sleep during the day, I can't sleep well at night.
- Es raro que preguntes eso, tú sabes que ellos nunca duermen aquí. -- It's weird you should ask that, you know they never sleep here.
*Notice that there is an o-to-ue stem change that happens in all forms except for nosotros and vosotros. This rule also applies to dormir as a reflexive verb - dormirse.
Present (Reflexive Verb)
| Yo | me duermo | Nosotros | nos dormimos |
| Tú | te duermes | Vosotros | os dormís |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | se duerme | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | se duermen |
Examples:
- Normalmente me duermo a las 10:30pm todos los días. -- Usually I go to bed at 10:30 p.m. every day.
- Mi hermana siempre se duerme muy tarde. -- My sister always goes to bed very late.
Imperfect
| Yo | dormía | Nosotros | dormíamos |
| Tú | dormías | Vosotros | dormíais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | dormía | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | dormían |
Examples:
- Mi hermano menor dormía mejor en su cama vieja. -- My younger brother used to sleep better on his old bed.
- ¿Dormías en clase de francés? -- Did you used to sleep in your French class?
Imperfect (Reflexive Verb)
| Yo | me dormía | Nosotros | nos dormíamos |
| Tú | te dormías | Vosotros | os dormíais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | se dormía | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | se dormían |
Examples:
- Cuando estaba pequeño me dormía en cualquier parte. -- When I was younger I used to sleep anywhere.
- Mi primo mayor se dormía en sus clases de anatomía en la universidad. -- My older cousin used to sleep in his anatomy classes in college.
Preterite
| Yo | dormí | Nosotros | dormimos |
| Tú | dormiste | Vosotros | dormisteis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | durmió | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | durmieron |
Examples:
- Mi tíos me dijeron que no durmieron bien anoche. -- My uncle and aunt told me they didn't sleep well last night.
- Carmen durmió en mi casa. -- Carmen slept in my house.
Preterite (Reflexive Verb)
| Yo | me dormí | Nosotros | nos dormimos |
| Tú | te dormiste | Vosotros | os dormisteis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | se durmió | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | se durmieron |
Examples:
- Me dormí muy tarde anoche y estoy muy cansado. -- I went to bed really late last night and I am really tired.
- Usted se durmió en la sala de cine. -- You fell asleep in the movie theater.
Future
| Yo | dormiré | Nosotros | dormiremos |
| Tú | dormirás | Vosotros | dormiréis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | dormirá | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | dormirán |
Examples:
- Tengo que seguir trabajando. Dormiré un poco cuando llegue a casa. -- I have to keep working. I will get some sleep when I get home.
- Mi mamá dormirá en la habitación de arriba. -- My mom will sleep in the room upstairs.
Future (Reflexive Verb)
| Yo | me dormiré | Nosotros | nos dormiremos |
| Tú | te dormirás | Vosotros | os dormiréis |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | se dormirá | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | se dormirán |
Examples:
- Yo se que te dormirás antes de que termine la película. -- I know you will fall asleep before the movie finishes.
- No te preocupes, nos dormiremos temprano para llegar a tiempo al trabajo. -- Don't worry! We will go to bed early in order to be on time for work.
Conditional
| Yo | dormiría | Nosotros | dormiríamos |
| Tú | dormirías | Vosotros | dormiríais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | dormiría | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | dormirían |
Examples:
- Dormiría más traquilo si supiera dónde está tu hermano. -- I would sleep more peacefully if I knew where your brother is.
- ¡Guau! No creí que dormirías tanto. -- Wow! I didn't think you'd sleep so much.
Conditional (Reflexive Verb)
| Yo | me dormiría | Nosotros | nos dormiríamos |
| Tú | te dormirías | Vosotros | os dormiríais |
| Él/Ella/Ud. | se dormiría | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | se dormirían |
Examples:
- Yo me dormiría más temprano si no tuviera tanta tarea que hacer. -- I would go to bed earlier if I didn't have so much homework to do.
- Si pudiera, mi hermanito dormiría en el patio todos los días. -- My little brother would sleep in the backyard every day if he could.
Idiomatic Expressions with Dormir
Here are two idiomatic expressions that you may want to learn along with the conjugations for this verb.
- Camarón que se duerme se lo lleva la corriente. -- If you snooze, you lose.
- Dormirse en los laureles. -- To rest on one's laurels.
Final Notes on Dormir
As stated before, dormir can be a tricky verb to learn. However, you just need to remember that it is conjugated as easily as any other ir-ending verb. The important rules to keep in mind are the o-to-ue stem change in the present conjugation with all pronoun forms except for nosotros and vosotros, as well as the o-to-u stem change in the preterite conjugation with the third person, both singular and plural. Now you can get some sleep!
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Dormir Verb Conjugaton in Spanish. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://spanish.yourdictionary.com/spanish-language/spanish-verb-conjugations/dormir-verb-conjugaton-in-spanish.html
