What will the sheep count?:
Conjugation of the verb Dormir
The perfect time of each day for many people, no matter if you are someone who takes afternoon naps, sleeps a lot at night, or are the rare 5% of the population that gets less than 5 hours of rest at any time of the day and wake up ready to face the world; we all enjoy sleeping after a long day of work. And although the word Dormir applies to that “natural temporary state of rest during which an individual becomes physically inactive”, to learn its conjugations we need to be wide awake, are you active?
Dormir, another member of the Irregular family
Let’s do a brief review on what this means: it is considered an irregular verb the one that must change in (almost) each case in order to conjugate, and as the verb Dormir loves to have several versions of itself depending on the occasion, it is a member of this beloved little group.
This verb may seem a bit complicated, but after the progress you make everyday by learning Spanish, it will be very easy to learn all about the moment when we get to count sheep.
Sleeping Beauty verbals
Verbals are words that decided to stop being verbs, and need other words in order to be used. No matter the person, tense, number, these words will remain the same (hooray!). The verb Dormir has three verbals: the infinitive, the gerund and the participle. Let’s move on to the examples:
Verbal | Common Use | Example | English | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitivo | dormir (to sleep / sleeping) | Non conjugated / Noun | Dormir me hace feliz | Sleeping makes me happy |
Gerund | durmiendo (sleeping) | Adverb | Estuve durmiendo con mi perro | I was sleeping with my dog |
Participe | dormido (asleep) | Adjective | Me quedé dormido en clase | I fell asleep in class |
Let’s get down to business: conjugate
One of the infallible and classic methods that exist to learn how to conjugate the verb Dormir is to memorize the ways in which it is conjugated, as there are several cases. However, native Spanish speakers don’t memorize these conjugations, they use them! Many Spanish teachers, and I include myself, strongly recommend having practical exercises with real conversations to obtain “naturalness” in the way of speaking
Dormir Conjugation: Indicative Mood
You have to take into account the focus that is used when a person is speaking, what the verb or phrase is saying in general, and the most common focus in Spanish is the indicative mood. Although less common, don’t forget that the auxiliary verb Haber (to have) is an important part of its compound tenses!
Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(sleep) | (slept) | (slept) | (would sleep) | (will sleep) | |
yo | duermo | dormí | dormía | dormiría | dormiré |
tú | duermes | dormiste | dormías | dormirías | dormirás |
él/ella/usted | duermes | durmió | dormía | dormiría | dormirá |
nosotros | dormimos | dormimos | dormíamos | dormiríamos | dormiremos |
ellos/ellas/ustedes | duermen | durmieron | dormían | dormirían | dormirán |
Some examples:
Anoche dormiste muy bien luego de bañarte – You slept very well last night after taking a bath.
Nosotros dormiremos más tranquilos luego de terminar los exámenes finales – We will sleep more soundly after finishing our final exams.
Saber Conjugation: Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
Subject | Present Perfect | Past Perfect (pluperfect) | Past Pluperfect | Conditional | Future Perfect |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(have/has sleep) | (had slept) | (had slept) | (would have sleep) | (will have sleep) | |
yo | he dormido | hube dormido | había dormido | habría dormido | habré dormido |
tú | has dormido | hubiste dormido | había dormido | habrías dormido | habrás dormido |
él/ella/usted | ha dormido | hubo dormido | había dormido | habría dormido | habrá dormido |
nosotros | hemos dormido | hubimos dormido | habíamos dormido | habríamos dormido | habremos dormido |
ellos/ellas/ustedes | han dormido | hubieron dormido | habían dormido | habrían dormido | habrán dormido |
Dormir Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
With this mood, we hypothesize or express our wishes. The number of verb tenses is reduced, being divided equally into simple and compound.
Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
---|---|---|---|---|
yo | duerma | durmiera | durmiese | durmiere |
tú | duermas | durmieras | durmieses | durmieres |
él/ella/usted | duerma | durmiera | durmiese | durmiere |
nosotros | durmamos | duermiéramos | durmiésemos | durmiéremos |
ellos/ellas/ustedes | duerman | durmieran | durmiesen | durmieren |
More examples:
Tienes que dejar el perro fuera para que durmamos tranquilos – You have to leave the dog outside so that we can sleep peacefully.
Si durmiese en otra cama, descansaría mejor – If I slept in another bed, I would rest better.
Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
---|---|---|---|---|
yo | haya dormido | hubiera dormido | hubiese dormido | hubiere dormido |
tú | hayas dormido | hubieras dormido | hubieses dormido | hubieres dormido |
él/ella/usted | haya dormido | hubiera dormido | hubiese dormido | hubiere dormido |
nosotros | hayamos dormido | hubiéramos dormido | hubiésemos dormido | hubiéremos dormido |
ellos/ellas/ustedes | hayan dormido | hubieran dormido | hubiesen dormido | hubieren dormido |
Dormir Conjugation: Imperative Mood
We enter the last mood you are going to memorize, with fewer subjects to learn (fortunately): the bossy (or Imperative) mood. With this conjugation, you can express orders. And since you can’t order yourself or a third party, you will only learn 3 persons and 1 verb tense. Possible uses of the Imperative mood? Children, pets, or that roommate who won’t stop eating your stuff.
Imperative Mood’s Conjugations
Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
---|---|---|
(sleep / let's sleep) | (don't sleep / let's not sleep) | |
tú | duerme | no duermas |
nosotros | durmamos | no durmamos |
ustedes | duerman | no duermas |
Examples:
No duermas hasta que termines de estudiar – Don’t sleep until you finish studying.
Ustedes duerman en la habitación, nosotros durmamos en la sala – You sleep in the bedroom, we sleep in the living room.
Spanish Verb Dormir – Quiz/Worksheet
As I mentioned before, practicing will be your best ally in mastering Spanish, and since our goal is to help you, we will leave you some sentences to review what we have learned in this lesson. Fill in the correct conjugation in the spaces below:
1. Mi gato _________ todo el día. (My cat sleeps all day)
2.Yo no _________ con mis hermanos. (I don’t sleep with my siblings)
3.No pude _________ bien anoche, estoy nervioso por la consulta médica. (I couldn’t sleep well last night, I’m nervous about the doctor’s appointment)
4.Con estas pastillas, tu abuela _________ mejor. (Your grandmother will sleep better with these pills)
5.El sábado mis amigas y yo _________ juntas, tendremos una pijamada. (On Saturday my girlfriends and I will sleep together, we’re having a sleepover)
6.No _________ sin cenar. (Don’t sleep without dinner)
7.Nosotros _________ en la otra habitación. (Let’s sleep in the other room)
8.Anoche _________ juntos, pero te quedaste despierto jugando videojuegos. (Last night we would have slept together, but you stayed up playing video games)
9.Yo _________ tranquilo si dejara el café por las noches. (I would sleep peacefully if I gave up coffee at night)
10.Ella no _________ bien anoche porque estaba preocupada por su novio. (She didn’t sleep well last night because she was worried about her boyfriend)
Answers
1.Duerme
2.Duermo
3.Dormir
4.Dormirá
5.Dormiremos
6.Duermas
7.Durmamos
8.Hubiésemos dormido
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