Dormir Conjugation In Spanish

Learn the forms that actually matter, spot the stem changes fast, and use dormir in normal adult life without sounding like you slept through class.

What you’ll get: clear charts, tense-by-tense use, Mexican Spanish notes where they matter, and enough real examples to make the verb stick.

I once checked into a hotel thinking, very confidently, that I would sleep like royalty. Then the street outside decided to host a full midnight concert for motorcycles, barking dogs, and one very committed singer. The next morning, the only Spanish sentence I truly needed was Anoche no dormí nada — I didn’t sleep at all last night.

Dormir is one of those verbs you use all the time: after a bad flight, before an early meeting, during flu season, on vacation, after coffee at 9 p.m. because apparently chaos felt fun. The annoying part is that it changes in some tenses and stays calm in others. The good news: the pattern is actually learnable.

Yak Tip

Dormir = to sleep. It is an o → ue stem-changing verb in the present, but in the preterite it changes only in the third person: durmió, durmieron. Yes, Spanish loves a plot twist.

Mexico note: you will hear ustedes instead of vosotros in everyday speech. I still include vosotros in the charts so you can recognize it when you read or travel.

Infinitive

dormir — to sleep

Example: Necesito dormir más esta semana.
I need to sleep more this week.

Gerund

durmiendo — sleeping

Example: El bebé está durmiendo.
The baby is sleeping.

Past Participle

dormido — slept

Example: He dormido muy poco.
I have slept very little.

Useful Cousin

dormirse — to fall asleep

Example: Me dormí en el sofá.
I fell asleep on the couch.

How Dormir Changes

Pattern	What Happens	Example
Present Indicative	o → ue in all forms except nosotros and vosotros	duermo, duermes, duerme, dormimos, dormís, duermen
Preterite	o → u only in third person singular and plural	durmió, durmieron
Present Subjunctive	Most forms keep ue, but nosotros/vosotros become u	duerma, durmamos
Gerund	o → u	durmiendo
Future / Conditional	No stem change	dormiré, dormiría

The easiest way to remember this: present likes ue, preterite third person likes u, and future behaves nicely because miracles do happen.

Present Tense: The Form You’ll Use Constantly

Use the present to say what someone sleeps, usually sleeps, or is doing in a general sense.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Meaning	Example
yo	duermo	I sleep	Duermo mejor con lluvia. I sleep better when it rains.
tú	duermes	you sleep	Tú duermes muy poco entre semana. You sleep very little during the week.
él / ella / usted	duerme	he / she sleeps; you sleep	Ella duerme ocho horas casi siempre. She sleeps eight hours almost always.
nosotros / nosotras	dormimos	we sleep	Dormimos tarde los viernes. We sleep late on Fridays.
vosotros / vosotras	dormís	you all sleep	Vosotros dormís aquí. You all sleep here.
ellos / ellas / ustedes	duermen	they sleep; you all sleep	Ustedes duermen en la otra habitación. You all sleep in the other room.

Rule: in the present, dormir changes from o to ue in every form except nosotros and vosotros.

Preterite Vs. Imperfect: Slept Once Or Used To Sleep?

This is where learners start squinting at the wall. Keep it simple:

Preterite = completed action in the past.
Imperfect = repeated, ongoing, or background action in the past.

Preterite

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
yo	dormí	Dormí solo cuatro horas. I slept only four hours.
tú	dormiste	¿Dormiste bien en el vuelo? Did you sleep well on the flight?
él / ella / usted	durmió	Mi hijo durmió toda la noche. My son slept all night.
nosotros / nosotras	dormimos	Dormimos en casa de unos amigos. We slept at some friends’ house.
vosotros / vosotras	dormisteis	Vosotros dormisteis poco. You all slept little.
ellos / ellas / ustedes	durmieron	Ellos durmieron en el aeropuerto. They slept in the airport.

Rule: only the third person changes: durmió, durmieron.

Imperfect

Pronoun	Conjugation	Example
yo	dormía	Cuando era estudiante, dormía tarde. When I was a student, I used to sleep late.
tú	dormías	Tú dormías con la tele prendida. You used to sleep with the TV on.
él / ella / usted	dormía	Ella dormía mientras llovía. She was sleeping while it rained.
nosotros / nosotras	dormíamos	Dormíamos poco en esa época. We used to sleep little in those days.
vosotros / vosotras	dormíais	Vosotros dormíais aquí antes. You all used to sleep here before.
ellos / ellas / ustedes	dormían	Ustedes dormían mejor antes del cambio de horario. You all used to sleep better before the time change.

Rule: the imperfect is regular here. No stem change. Deeply refreshing.

Future And Conditional: Nice, Regular, No Drama

These forms keep the full infinitive dormir and add the endings. No stem change shows up here.

Pronoun	Future	Conditional	Example
yo	dormiré	dormiría	Mañana dormiré temprano. — I will sleep early tomorrow. Yo dormiría más, pero tengo trabajo. — I would sleep more, but I have work.
tú	dormirás	dormirías	Tú dormirás mejor sin café. — You will sleep better without coffee. Tú dormirías aquí sin problema. — You would sleep here without a problem.
él / ella / usted	dormirá	dormiría	Ella dormirá después de la guardia. — She will sleep after her shift. Él dormiría en cualquier lugar. — He would sleep anywhere.
nosotros	dormiremos	dormiríamos	Dormiremos en Guadalajara. — We will sleep in Guadalajara. Dormiríamos mejor con menos ruido. — We would sleep better with less noise.
vosotros	dormiréis	dormiríais	Vosotros dormiréis aquí. — You all will sleep here. Vosotros dormiríais poco con ese bebé. — You all would sleep little with that baby.
ellos / ellas / ustedes	dormirán	dormirían	Ustedes dormirán en el segundo piso. — You all will sleep on the second floor. Ellos dormirían hasta mediodía. — They would sleep until noon.

Present Subjunctive: Wishes, Doubts, And Recommendations

Use the present subjunctive after expressions like quiero que, es importante que, dudo que, and ojalá que.

Pronoun	Conjugation	English Meaning	Example
yo	duerma	that I sleep	Ojalá que yo duerma mejor hoy. I hope I sleep better today.
tú	duermas	that you sleep	Quiero que tú duermas bien. I want you to sleep well.
él / ella / usted	duerma	that he / she / you sleep	Es importante que usted duerma lo suficiente. It’s important that you sleep enough.
nosotros / nosotras	durmamos	that we sleep	La doctora recomienda que durmamos más. The doctor recommends that we sleep more.
vosotros / vosotras	durmáis	that you all sleep	Espero que durmáis tranquilos. I hope you all sleep peacefully.
ellos / ellas / ustedes	duerman	that they / you all sleep	Dudo que ellos duerman temprano. I doubt they sleep early.

Why durmamos? The subjunctive starts from the yo form duermo, but nosotros and vosotros shift to u: durmamos, durmáis.

Imperative: Telling Someone To Sleep

Strictly speaking, you can command with dormir, but in real life Spanish often uses dormirse for “fall asleep” in commands like Duérmete. Still, you should know the basic forms of dormir.

Command Type	Form	English Meaning	Example
tú affirmative	duerme	sleep	Duerme un poco antes del vuelo. Sleep a little before the flight.
usted affirmative	duerma	sleep	Duerma bien, por favor. Sleep well, please.
nosotros	durmamos	let’s sleep	Durmamos aquí esta noche. Let’s sleep here tonight.
ustedes affirmative	duerman	sleep	Duerman temprano hoy. Sleep early today.
tú negative	no duermas	don’t sleep	No duermas en el autobús. Don’t sleep on the bus.
ustedes negative	no duerman	don’t sleep	No duerman con la ventana abierta. Don’t sleep with the window open.

Compound Tenses You’ll Hear A Lot

Because the past participle is dormido, compound tenses are easy to build with haber.

Form	English Meaning	Example
he dormido	I have slept	He dormido fatal esta semana. I’ve slept terribly this week.
había dormido	I had slept	Ya había dormido cuando me llamaste. I had already slept when you called me.
habría dormido	I would have slept	Habría dormido más sin tanto ruido. I would have slept more without so much noise.

Useful Phrases And Real-Life Sentences

Spanish Phrase	English Meaning	Example
dormir bien	to sleep well	Cuando apago el celular, duermo bien. When I turn off my phone, I sleep well.
dormir mal	to sleep badly	Duermo mal cuando tomo café de noche. I sleep badly when I drink coffee at night.
dormir mucho	to sleep a lot	Los domingos dormimos mucho. We sleep a lot on Sundays.
dormir poco	to sleep little	En temporada de cierre, ellos duermen poco. During crunch season, they sleep little.
dormir ocho horas	to sleep eight hours	Quiero dormir ocho horas por fin. I want to sleep eight hours for once.
dormir la siesta	to take a nap	Después de comer, a veces duermo la siesta. After lunch, I sometimes take a nap.
dormir hasta tarde	to sleep in	El sábado dormimos hasta tarde. On Saturday we sleep in.
no dormir nada	to not sleep at all	Anoche no dormí nada. I didn’t sleep at all last night.
dormir en el sofá	to sleep on the couch	Se quedó viendo una serie y durmió en el sofá. He kept watching a series and slept on the couch.
dormir en un hotel	to sleep in a hotel	Esta noche dormiremos en un hotel cerca del centro. Tonight we’ll sleep in a hotel near downtown.
dormir como un tronco	to sleep like a log	Después del viaje, dormí como un tronco. After the trip, I slept like a log.
quedarse dormido	to fall asleep unintentionally	Me quedé dormido en la reunión virtual. I fell asleep during the virtual meeting.

Don’t Mix Up Dormir And Dormirse

Dormir

Meaning: to sleep

Example: Duermo seis horas.
I sleep six hours.

Think of this as the state of sleeping.

Dormirse

Meaning: to fall asleep

Example: Me duermo en el tren casi siempre.
I fall asleep on the train almost always.

Think of this as the moment of falling asleep.

This difference matters a lot. Duermo a las once sounds odd if you mean “I fall asleep at eleven.” For that, say Me duermo a las once.

Common Mistakes And Fast Fixes

Wrong: yo dormo
Right: yo duermo
The present tense needs the stem change.
Wrong: él duermió
Right: él durmió
In the preterite third person, the stem changes to u, not ue.
Wrong: nosotros duermemos
Right: nosotros dormimos
That heroic invention is not a real conjugation.
Wrong: quiero que dormimos bien
Right: quiero que durmamos bien
After quiero que, use the subjunctive.
Wrong: estoy dormiendo una siesta for every nap sentence
Better: duermo la siesta or voy a dormir la siesta
The progressive exists, but Spanish often prefers the simpler form.

Practice Section

Try these before peeking. Your future well-rested self deserves the effort.

Complete the sentence: Yo ___ mejor cuando hace frío.
Choose the correct past form: Anoche ellos ___ muy poco. (durmieron / duermieron)
Complete the sentence: Cuando era niño, yo ___ con la luz prendida.
Make it subjunctive: Es importante que nosotros ___ bien.
Pick the better option: Me duermo / Duermo a medianoche casi todos los días.

Answers

duermo — Yo duermo mejor cuando hace frío.
durmieron — preterite third person uses u.
dormía — repeated past habit, so imperfect.
durmamos — subjunctive after es importante que.
Me duermo — this means “I fall asleep at midnight.”

Quick Reference Summary

Present: duermo, duermes, duerme, dormimos, dormís, duermen
Preterite: dormí, dormiste, durmió, dormimos, dormisteis, durmieron
Imperfect: dormía, dormías, dormía, dormíamos, dormíais, dormían
Future: regular from the infinitive — dormiré, dormirá, etc.
Conditional: regular from the infinitive — dormiría, dormirían, etc.
Present Subjunctive: duerma, duermas, duerma, durmamos, durmáis, duerman
Gerund: durmiendo
Past Participle: dormido
Key distinction: dormir = to sleep; dormirse = to fall asleep

Final Yak

If you remember only three things, make them these: duermo in the present, durmió / durmieron in the preterite, and dormirse when you mean “fall asleep.” That tiny trio will save you from a shocking amount of confusion.

And yes, once you can say No dormí nada, Duermo mejor aquí, and Ojalá que durmamos temprano, you are already using dormir like a real human instead of a grammar worksheet with feelings.