Dormir Conjugation 101: Conjugate Dormir In Spanish

Dormir is a basic -IR verb with O to UE stem changes. In some tenses, this verb also has an O to U change. Since this verb is essential for your communication and can help you practice these patterns, we’ll review the dormir conjugation rules in this guide. 

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Overview of Dormir

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-IR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveDormir
Gerund (Present Participle) FormDurmiendo
Past Participle FormDormido
SynonymsDescansar, reposar, tomar una siesta.

Stem Changes: O to UE and O to U.

  • Present Indicative: duerm for all subject pronouns except ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’.
  • Preterite: durm for the third-person singular and plural.
  • Present Subjunctive: durm only for ‘nosotros’ and ‘vosotros’, duerm for the remaining pronouns.
  • Imperfect Subjunctive: durmie for all subject pronouns.
  • Affirmative Imperative: duerm for all subject pronouns except ‘vosotros’.
  • Negative Imperative: durm only for ‘vosotros’, duerm for the remaining pronouns.

Indicative Conjugations of Dormir

Present tense

Dormir’s conjugations in the present tense have an O to UE stem change, which doesn’t affect the pronouns ‘vosotros’ and ‘nosotros’. See these changes in the dormir conjugation chart below. Use these forms to say that a person sleeps or describe how they do this activity. 

For example: Los bebés duermen mucho. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDuermoI sleep
DuermesYou sleep 
Él / Ella
Usted
DuermeHe/She sleeps
You (formal) sleep
NosotrosDormimosWe sleep
VosotrosDormísYou sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DuermenThey sleep
You (plural) sleep

Preterite tense

Dormir preterite conjugations have an O to U stem change only for the third-person singular and plural. When conjugated to the preterite tense, dormir is used to say that a person slept. Add adverbs of time to mention the specific moment when this action happened. 

Here is an example: ¿Durmieron bien?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDormíI slept
DormisteYou slept
Él / Ella
Usted
DurmióHe/She slept
You (formal) slept
NosotrosDormimosWe slept
VosotrosDormisteisYou slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DurmieronThey slept
You (plural) slept

Take Note: This O to U change is made to avoid having two ‘o’ sounds in a row and ease the pronunciation. So, dormó becomes durmió. This change is also applied to the verbs poder and morir. 

Imperfect tense

In the past imperfect tense, this verb has no stem changes. Use dormir imperfect conjugations to describe how a person used to sleep. These forms are also used when it’s unclear when someone slept. For instance: Cuando eran niñas, mis primas dormían con la luz prendida. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDormíaI slept
I used to sleep
DormíasYou slept
You used to sleep
Él / Ella
Usted
DormíaHe/She slept
He/She used to sleep

You (formal) slept
You (formal) used to sleep
NosotrosDormíamosWe slept
We used to sleep
VosotrosDormíaisYou slept
You used to sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DormíanThey slept
They used to sleep

You (plural) slept
You (plural) used to sleep

Near future

In Spanish, the immediate future is conjugated by using ir (present tense) + a + dormir. We use these forms to say that someone will sleep soon. For example: Ya me voy a dormir. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a dormirI’m going to sleep
Vas a dormirYou’re going to sleep
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a dormirHe/She is going to sleep
You (formal) are going to sleep
NosotrosVamos a dormirWe’re going to sleep
VosotrosVais a dormirYou’re going to sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a dormirThey’re going to sleep
You (plural) are going to sleep

Future simple tense

Conjugate dormir to the future simple tense to express that someone will sleep at some moment in the future. For example: En unos minutos, dormiré a la bebé.  

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDormiréI will sleep
DormirásYou will sleep
Él / Ella
Usted
DormiráHe/She will sleep
You (formal) will sleep
NosotrosDormiremosWe will sleep
VosotrosDormiréisYou (formal) will sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DormiránThey will sleep
You (plural) will sleep

Conditional tense

In the conditional tense, dormir is used to say that a person would sleep. For instance: Si pudiéramos, nos dormiríamos más temprano. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDormiríaI would sleep
DormiríasYou would sleep
Él / Ella
Usted
DormiríaHe/She would sleep
You (formal) would sleep
NosotrosDormiríamosWe would sleep
VosotrosDormiríaisYou would sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DormiríanThey would sleep
You (plural) would sleep

Present perfect tense

The Spanish present perfect tense is formed with haber in the present form + dormido (past participle). These dormir conjugations allow you to express whether someone has slept or not. For instance: Esta semana, no he dormido muy bien.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe dormidoI have slept
Has dormidoYou have slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha dormidoHe/She has slept
You (formal) have slept
NosotrosHemos dormidoWe have slept
VosotrosHabéis dormidoYou have slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han dormidoThey have slept
You (plural) have slept

Take Note: The past participle form of dormir (dormido) can also work as an adjective when combined with the verb estar. In this case, ‘dormido’ means ‘asleep’. El bebé está dormido. 

Past perfect

Use dormir’s past perfect tense conjugations to say that someone had slept before a past action or moment. For example: Cuando llegó de trabajar, los niños ya se habían dormido.  

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía dormidoI had slept
Habías dormidoYou had slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Había dormidoHe/She had slept
You (formal) had slept
NosotrosHabíamos dormidoWe had slept
VosotrosHabíais dormidoYou had slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían dormidoThey had slept
You (plural) had slept

Future perfect

When conjugated to the future perfect tense, this verb expresses that someone will have slept by or before a certain future moment or action. To form this tense, use haber future conjugations + the past participle form of ‘dormir’. For example: Al final de esta semana, sólo habré dormido 8 horas.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré dormidoI will have slept
Habrás dormidoYou will have slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá dormidoHe/She will have slept
You (formal) will have slept
NosotrosHabremos dormidoWe will have slept
VosotrosHabréis dormidoYou will have slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán dormidoThey will have slept
You (plural) will have slept

Conditional perfect

Conjugate this verb to the conditional perfect for conveying that someone would have slept if a past condition had occurred. Si mis vecinos le hubieran bajado a la música, habríamos dormido mejor. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría dormidoI would have slept
Habrías dormidoYou would have slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría dormidoHe/She would have slept
You (formal) would have slept
NosotrosHabríamos dormidoWe would have slept
VosotrosHabríais dormidoYou would have slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían dormidoThey would have slept
You (plural) would have slept

Progressive tenses

To form the progressive tenses in Spanish, use the estar conjugations + present participle (durmiendo, in this case). These dormir conjugations express that someone is sleeping at a given point in time.For example: No hagas ruido, mis papás están durmiendo. 

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + durmiendoI am sleeping
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + durmiendoYou were sleeping
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + durmiendoHe was sleeping
FutureEstar (future) + durmiendoWe will be sleeping
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + durmiendoThey would be sleeping

Take Note: Like dormir, there are other verbs whose present participle form in Spanish have stem changes. 

Dormir Subjunctive Conjugations

The subjunctive mood in Spanish is used to refer to someone’s wishes, hopes, demands, advice, uncertainty, suggestions, or hypothetical situations. In the following sections, we’ll review dormir subjunctive conjugation charts. 

Present subjunctive

Dormir subjunctive conjugations have an O to UE and O to U stem change. In the conjugations charts below, you can check which subject pronouns are affected by these patterns. Use these forms to talk about requests, suggestions, or wishes someone has about a person sleeping. 

For instance: Les sugiero que duerman más.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDuermaI sleep
DuermasYou sleep
Él / Ella
Usted
DuermaHe/She sleeps
You (formal) sleep
NosotrosDurmamosWe sleep
VosotrosDurmáisYou sleep
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DuermanThey sleep
You (plural) sleep

Present perfect subjunctive

In Spanish, the present perfect subjunctive of dormir is formed with haber subjunctive conjugations + past participle (dormido, for this conjugation guide). With this tense, dormir is used to wonder or wish that a person has already slept. Ojalá que la bebé ya se haya dormido. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya dormidoI have slept
Hayas dormidoYou have slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya dormidoHe/She has slept
You (formal) have slept
NosotrosHayamos dormidoWe have slept
VosotrosHayáis dormidoYou have slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan dormidoThey have slept
You (plural) have slept

Imperfect subjunctive

Durmie is the stem you must use to conjugate this verb to the imperfect subjunctive. These conjugations allow you to talk about past suggestions, requests or wishes someone had about a person’s sleep. For example: Te pedí que durmieras a los niños. 

Based on the type of Spanish you’re learning (Latin American or Castilian), you must use a specific conjugation model for the imperfect subjunctive: 

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDurmieraI slept
DurmierasYou slept
Él / Ella
Usted
DurmieraHe/She slept
You (formal) slept
NosotrosDurmiéramosWe slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DurmieranThey slept
You (plural) slept

Note: Latin American Spanish doesn’t use the pronoun vosotros. Because of that, this pronoun and its conjugation have not been included in the previous dormir conjugation chart. 

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoDurmieseI slept
DurmiesesYou slept
Él / Ella
Usted
DurmieseHe/She slept
You (formal) slept
NosotrosDurmiésemosWe slept
VosotrosDurmieseisYou slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
DurmiesenThey slept
You (plural) slept

Past perfect subjunctive

The past perfect subjunctive conjugations of dormir express that someone would have slept if a past condition was met. These forms also express regret because you slept or not. For instance: Si no hubiera ido a esa fiesta, hubiera dormido más tiempo. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera dormidoI had slept
Hubieras dormidoYou had slept
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera dormidoHe/She had slept
You (formal) had slept
NosotrosHubiéramos dormidoWe had slept
VosotrosHubierais dormidoYou had slept
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran dormidoThey had slept
You (plural) had slept

Dormir Imperative Conjugations

In Spanish, we use the imperative conjugations of a verb to give orders. 

Affirmative commands

Dormir affirmative commands have an O to UE stem change except for ‘vosotros’. Use these imperative forms to order someone to sleep or to wish someone a good night. Duerman bien.

PersonConjugationTranslation
DuermeSleep
UstedDuermaSleep
VosotrosDormidSleep
UstedesDuermanSleep

Negative commands

The negative commands of dormir are formed with two stems. Duerm for ‘tú’, ‘usted’, and ‘ustedes’, and durm for ‘vosotros’. You can use these conjugations to order someone not to sleep. No te duermas, ya casi llegamos. 

PersonConjugationTranslation
No duermasDon’t sleep
UstedNo duermaDon’t sleep
VosotrosNo durmáisDon’t sleep
UstedesNo duermanDon’t sleep

Meanings of Dormir & Examples

So far, we’ve learned how to conjugate dormir in Spanish. Now, we’ll review some common applications of this verb. Based on the sentence and Spanish pronouns you use, dormir means to: 

  • Sleep or go to sleep
  • Fall asleep (reflexive pronouns)
  • Go numb (reflexive and indirect pronouns)
  • Slack off or be careless 

[Dormir conjugated] + [complement]

Los niños durmieron muy bien. 
The kids slept very well. 

A mi mamá se le durmió la pierna. 
My mom’s leg went numb

Te dormiste a la mitad de la película. 
You fell asleep in the middle of the movie. 

Si se duermen, el otro equipo les va a ganar. 
If you slack off, the other team is going to win. 

Take Note: The reflexive form dormirse follows the same conjugation pattern as ‘dormir’. You must only add the correct reflexive pronoun. Use dormir with adverbs of manner to describe how someone sleeps. 

Download Dormir Conjugation Charts & Uses Cheat sheet

Dormir is a crucial Spanish -IR verb to know since it’s used in many conversations and to talk about daily routines. However, it’s also a stem-changing Spanish verb in many tenses. So, if you’d like a refresher on this verbs various forms, check out the dormir conjugation reference guide.

Practice Quiz: Dormir Conjugation

Practice this verb’s patterns by taking this dormir conjugation practice quiz. You can choose any combination of moods and tenses to include in the quiz, from beginner to advanced levels.

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

Recent Posts

Pin It on Pinterest