Dormir Preterite: All you need to know about this spanish word

In general, in order to utilize a Spanish verb in a phrase, the verb’s ending must be changed to fit with the subject. Also, this is referred to as conjugation. Then, consider a verb to be a power tool, similar to a drill, with several bits at the end that you may attach for different jobs. Then, this is the concept of conjugation. So, consider the ordinary verb vivir as an example (to live).

Because dormir is a stem-changing verb, you must alter more of the verb’s spelling rather than just the ending or drill bit. Then, for most conjugations, the -o in the stem of the verb turns to -ue. Then, it would be analogous to swapping out your batteries for the power connector in order to utilize the drill. Also, it’s essentially the same instrument with the same parts; you simply needed to make a few modifications to the drill itself for the task at hand. Then, let’s see how that turns out.

Moreover, dormir is one of the first irregular -ir verbs to show a pattern. Then, dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir, and all of their derivatives, such as repartir, are all included. Then, this is a feature shared by all of these verbs: In the singular conjugations, they all leave off the final letter of the radical (root). Also, for example, the first-person singular of dormir is je dors (no “m”), whereas the first-person plural is nous dormons (with the “m” retained from the root). Then, the more patterns you identify, the easier it will be to recall conjugations.

Meaning

The verb dormir means ‘to sleep.’ This verb is standard in the preterite tense (things that happened recently), but has a -o to -u shift in the third person singular and plural. In this article, we are talking about this topic. So, keep reading to know more about it.

Dormir Preterite conjugation

Moreover, in general, in order to utilize a Spanish verb in a phrase, the verb’s ending must be changed to fit with the subject. So, this is referred to as conjugation. Then, consider a verb to be a power tool, similar to a drill, with several bits at the end that you may attach for different jobs. Then, this is the concept of conjugation. Also, consider the ordinary verb vivir as an example (to live).

Yo vivo en Los Ángeles. (I live in Los Angeles.)
Tú vives en Nueva York. (You live in New York.)

So, the only portion of the verb that changes in each case is the ending, which previously ended in -ir. Because dormir is a stem-changing verb, you must alter more of the verb’s spelling rather than just the ending or drill bit. Then, for most conjugations, the -o in the stem of the verb turns to -ue. Then, it would be analogous to swapping out your batteries for the power connector in order to utilize the drill. Also, it’s essentially the same instrument with the same parts; you simply needed to make a few modifications to the drill itself for the task at hand. Then, let’s see how that turns out.

Dormir Preterite conjugation chart

Subject Pronoun	Dormir Conjugation	Pronunciation	Translation
yo	duermo	(DWAYR-moh)	I sleep
tú	duermes	(DWAYR-mays)	you sleep (singular, informal)
él/ella/usted	duerme	(DWAYR-may)	he/she sleeps you sleep (formal, singular)
nosotros	dormimos	(dor-MEE-moh)	we sleep
vosotros	dormís	(dor-MEES)	you all sleep (informal)
ellos/ellas/ustedes	duermen	(DWAYR-mayn)	they sleep you all sleep (formal, plural)

So, there are two variants of dormir that do not affect the spelling of the verb stem. Then, these are the verb forms nosotros and vosotros. Also, remember that during your talk with Mariana, she said the following:

Sí, dormimos después del almuerzo. (Yes, we sleep after lunch.)

Dormir Preterite conjugation spanish

Moreover, the preterite (pretérito perfecto simple, or pretérito indefinido) is a verb tense in Spanish. Also, it denotes that an action performed in the past was finished at a certain moment in time in the past. (In traditional Spanish, all past tenses are called pretéritos, regardless of whether they describe finished or incomplete acts or occurrences.) Typically, a specific start or end time for the action is specified. Then, in contrast, the imperfect refers to any recurring, continuous, or habitual past activity. Thus, “I ran five miles yesterday” would be written in the first-person preterite form of ran, corr, but “I ran five miles every morning” would be written in the first-person imperfect form, corra. Then, this is a contrast between perfective and imperfective aspects.

Then, the unique conjugations for the preterite’s “yo” form (the accent mark goes over the ‘e’) are mentioned below; these are required to retain their distinct sounds.

-gar verbs: -qué (jugar greater than jugué).
-car verbs: -qué (buscar greater than busqué).
-zar verbs: -cé (almorzar greater than almorcé).
-guar verbs: -güé (aguar greater than agüé).

So, the ends of -er and -ir verbs are the same when conjugated. Then, the third person singular and plural versions of all verbs ending in -uir and -oor, as well as several verbs ending in -aer (except traer), finish in -yó and -yeron, respectively, to retain their distinct sounds.

Example

Moreover, most verbs ending in -ducir, as well as most verbs that are irregular in the “yo” form of the present tense, have anomalous stems in the preterite (including traer).

Then, there is still a considerable separation between the preterite and the present perfect in most Iberian Mainland Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Mexican Spanish. Then, the preterite suggests a past action that began and concluded in the past. But the present perfect denotes a past action that began and ended in the past; therefore,

Comí todo el día. (I ate all day long.)
He comido todo el día (I have eaten all day.)

So, this difference has tended to erode in most other forms of Spanish, such as in the Americas and the Canary Islands, with the preterite being used even for acts in the immediate pre-present with ongoing significance.

Dormir Preterite verb chart

So, sleep is essential. Then, getting a good night’s sleep makes it much simpler to go to work the next day. Then, in Spanish, the word dormir (dor-MEER) means ‘to sleep.’ We will study two methods to conjugate dormir in the preterite and imperfect tenses, as well as how to form the past participle of dormir in this session.

So, in this lesson, all verbs will be conjugated in the indicative. Also, keep in mind that in Spanish, pronouns are solely used to indicate who is speaking.

Then, the preterite tense is used to discuss events that occurred in the recent past or in the near future. Also, except for the third person singular and plural, the preterite tense of the verb dormir is normal. Then, these pronouns exhibit a change from -o to -u.

Subject Pronoun	Preterite Tense	Pronunciation	Translation
yo	dormí	dor-MEE	I slept
tú	dormiste	dor-MEE-stay	You (informal) slept
él, ella, usted	durmió	dur-mee-OH	He, she, you (formal) slept
nosotros nosotras	dormimos	dor-MEE-mose	We slept
vosotros vosotras	dormisteis	dor-mee-STAY-ees	You (plural, informal) slept
ellos, ellas, ustedes	durmieron	dur-mee-EH-rone	They (male, female), you (plural, informal) slept

Dormir Preterite chart

-ar verbs (hablar)	-er verbs (comer)	-ir verbs (vivir)	most irregular verbs	ser/ir
yo	-é (hablé)	-í (comí)	-í (viví)	-e (puse)	fui
tú	-aste (hablaste)	-iste (comiste)	-iste (viviste)	-iste (pusiste)	fuiste
él/ella usted	-ó (habló)	-ió (comió)	-ió (vivió)	-o (puso)	fue
nosotros	-amos (hablamos)	-imos (comimos)	-imos (vivimos)	-imos (pusimos)	fuimos
vosotros	-asteis (hablasteis)	-isteis (comisteis)	-isteis (vivisteis)	-isteis (pusisteis)	fuisteis
ellos/as ustedes	-aron (hablaron)	-ieron (comieron)	-ieron (vivieron)	-ieron (pusieron)	fuero

Dormir Preterite spanish tense

Dormir Preterite Present tense

First, yo duermo=I sleep
Then, tú duermes=You (informal) sleep
Then, él/ella/ello/uno duerme=He/she/one sleeps
Also, usted duerme=You (formal) sleep
Then, nosotros dormimos=We sleep
Then, vosotros dormís=You all (informal) sleep
Also, ellos/ellas duermen=They sleep
Then, ustedes duermen=You all (formal) sleep

Dormir Preterite Preterite tense

First, yo dormí=I slept
Then, tú dormiste=You (informal) slept
Then, él/ella/ello/uno durmió =He/she/one slept
Also, usted durmió=You (formal) slept
Then, nosotros dormimos=We slept
Then, vosotros dormisteis=You all (informal) slept
Also, ellos/ellas durmieron=They slept
Then, ustedes durmieron=You all (formal) slept

Dormir Preterite Imperfect tense

First, yo dormía=I used to sleep
Then, tú dormías=You (informal) used to sleep
Then, él/ella/ello/uno dormía =He/she/one used to sleep
Also, usted dormía=You (formal) used to sleep
Then, nosotros dormíamos=We used to sleep
Then, vosotros dormíais=You all (informal) used to sleep
Also, ellos/ellas dormían=They used to sleep
Then, ustedes dormían=You all (formal) used to sleep

Dormir Preterite Future tense

First, yo dormiré=I will sleep
Then, tú dormirás=You (informal) will sleep
Then, él/ella/ello/uno dormirá=He/she/one will sleep
Also, usted dormirá=You (formal) will sleep
Then, nosotros dormiramos=We will sleep
Then, vosotros dormiréis=You all (informal) will sleep
Also, ellos/ellas dormirán=They will sleep
Then, ustedes dormirán=You all (formal) will sleep

Dormir Preterite form

Moreover, perhaps no one misses sleep more than a family that has gained a new member. Then, let’s look at an example to better comprehend dormir in context. Then, Mariana, your buddy, is holding her new baby. Also, Mariana’s sleep habits have altered, as they do with every new mother, and you both want to talk about it.

So, dormir is used to describe how a newborn sleeps. Seeing the adorable child, you inquire of Mariana:

¿Duerme por toda la noche? (Does she sleep all night?)

Mariana: No, ella no duerme toda la noche. Ella se despierta cada dos horas. (No, she doesn’t sleep all night. She wakes up every two hours.)

You: Entonces tú no duermes mucho, ¿verdad? (So you don’t sleep a lot, right?)

Mariana: No, yo no duermo mucho. (No, I don’t sleep a lot.)

You: ¿Y duermen ustedes durante el día? (And do you all sleep during the day?)

Mariana: Sí, dormimos después del almuerzo. ¡Yo duermo cuando ella duerme! (Yes, we sleep after lunch. I sleep when she sleeps!)

Dormir Preterite irregular

Moreover, the past tense Many Spanish students are perplexed by Spanish, especially when dealing with irregular preterite verbs.

So, let’s go through the most crucial Spanish past tenses first. Also, there are two methods to speak about the past tense in the indicative mood: the preterite (aka simple past) tense and the imperfect tense. Then, the preterite tense in Spanish is used to describe acts accomplished at a single time in the past. Whereas the imperfect tense is used to indicate habitual or continuous past actions with no defined beginning or conclusion.

Moreover, all of the verbs provided in the post are irregular. However, you’ll see that some verbs require only minor alterations, while others demand significant spelling changes, and some, quite honestly, do not follow any rules at all. Then, in this post, we will divide irregular verbs into the following categories:

Ser, Ir, Dar, Hacer, Ver are examples of verbs that require considerable adjustments.
Then, verbs that necessitate a stem change but utilize standard ends.
Then, verbs that finish in -ir and necessitate a stem alteration.
Also, verbs with the suffix -ucir.
Then, verbs with an irregular “yo” form.

Verbs that need major alterations

So, these verbs belong in the uncharted territory of conjugations. In other words, they are absolutely random and do not follow any pattern.

First, Ser (to be)
Then, Ir (to go)
Then, Dar (to give)
Also, Hacer (to do)
Then, Ver (to see).

Because these five verbs are perhaps the most often used irregular verbs in the preterite, it’s essential to learn the conjugations.

Dormir Preterite endings

Moreover, many of the preterite’s irregular Spanish verbs follow the same pattern. Then, they all alter the verb’s stem to a different stem and then add the same set of ends. Also, these endings are distinct from those shared by typical preterite verbs in Spanish.

Then, changes in stems in the simple present tense of IR verbs necessitate a change in the preterite. However, after the stem changes, all ordinary IR verbs can utilize the same preterite endings. Then, before we go any further, let’s go through the preterite tense endings for IR verbs.

Personal Pronoun	-IR verb ending
Yo	-i
Tu	-iste
El/Ella/Usted	-io
Nosotros	-imos
Ellas	-ieron

So, verbs ending in -IR that change stem in the simple present tense change stem in the preterite, but only for the personal pronouns: él,ella,usted,ustedes,ellos,ellas.

Then, in the preterite, all Spanish verbs ending in -ucir, such as conducir (to drive), producir (to produce), traducir (to translate), and so on, as well as the verbs traer (to bring) and decir (to say), have the following endings:

Personal Pronoun	-IR verb ending
Yo	-je
Tu	-jiste
El/Ella/Usted	-jo
Nosotros/Nosotras	-jmos
Ellas/Ellos	-jeron

Dormir Preterite ellos

Moreover, in Spanish, all printed accent marks are referred to as tildes (tilde = singular). Then, the term “tilde” in English solely refers to the mark seen above the letter “n” in Spanish. Then, tildes will be referred to as “accent marks” in this article because it is written in English. Also, in Spanish, accent marks include: á, é, ó,, and the sign diéresis, which looks like this: ü

Moreover, accent marks suggest a slightly different pronunciation of a specific letter and are frequently used to differentiate between two words written with the same letters. Then, the subject pronoun t, for example, meaning “you,” but it’s accented brother tu is the possessive adjective used to indicate that something belongs to the addressee (“your”).

Furthermore, unlike the preceding t/tu example, the meanings of words separated by accent marks are not necessarily connected, such as mais (“but”) vs más (“more”). So, as a result, it’s important to spend some time listening to the various sounds linked with these letters in order to appropriately construct the various versions of these verbs.

Because we are not used to paying attention to accent marks in English. Also, it is easy to dismiss them and sort them out afterwards. Then, in the case of Spanish preterite and present tense conjugations, the accent mark is the sole thing. Then, it distinguishes the tense and person in first person singular (yo), third person singular (él, ella), and second person formal singular (él, ella) (usted).

Because it is usual in Spanish to omit the subject pronoun, the accent is the sole method to distinguish between tenses in the following sentences:

Example

Canté muchas canciones en la fiesta del sábado pasado (I sang many songs at the party last Saturday).
Quieren que cante en la fiesta del sábado (They want me to sing at the party on Saturday).

So, understanding the principles of Spanish preterite conjugation is a necessary first step in understanding how to speak about events that occurred in the past. Then, memorizing conjugation tables may be useful at first, But without extensive experience generating whole sentences, you will constantly be delayed in natural speech as you recall how to apply the rule.

Dormir Preterite changes

So, if a verb changes stems in the present tense, it will not change stems in the preterite unless it is a – ir verb. In the preterite, no – ar or – er verbs will modify the stem. So, verbs that change stems and finish in -ir.

Then, in the preterite, a –ir verb that stem changes in the present tense will stem change exclusively in the third person forms (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, and ustedes). Then, any –ir verb that stem altered o-ue in the preterite would stem change o-u in the third person forms. Also, the table shows the preterite patterns for all –ir verbs in the present tense that stem change o-ue. Then, in both tenses, the verb dormir (to sleep) is conjugated in the same way.

Then, in the present tense, numerous – ir verbs stem shift to e>ie. Also, any – ir verb that stems e>ie in the present tense will stem e>i in the preterite, but only in the third person forms (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes). Table 2 shows the preterite patterns for all –ir verbs that stem change e>ie in the present tense and conjugates the verb mentir (to tell a falsehood).

Here are some common – ir verbs in the preterite tense that are all conjugated like mentir:

If the stem of a – ir verb changes to e>i in the present tense, it will also change to e>i in the preterite, but only in the third person forms (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes). Table 3 shows the preterite patterns for all ir verbs that stem change e>i in the present tense and conjugates the verb pedir (to request).

Some frequently asked questions

Does dormir stem change in the preterite?

In both tenses, the verb dormir (to sleep) is conjugated in the same way. In the present tense, numerous – ir verbs stem shift to e-ie. Any – ir verb that stems e-ie in the present tense will stem e-i in the preterite, but only in the third person forms (él, ella, usted, ellos, ellas, ustedes).

What are the conjugations for dormir?

First, yo duermo=I sleep
Then, tú duermes=You (informal) sleep
Then, él/ella/ello/uno duerme=He/she/one sleeps
Also, usted duerme=You (formal) sleep
Then, nosotros dormimos=We sleep
Then, vosotros dormís=You all (informal) sleep
Also, ellos/ellas duermen=They sleep
Then, ustedes duermen=You all (formal) sleep

Is dormir reflexive?

Although dormir is commonly used to imply “to sleep,” depending on the context and especially when preceded by a reflexive pronoun (“me”, “se”, “nos”, etc.), this verb may also signify to oversleep, fall asleep, get someone to fall asleep, or even to become careless or slack off.

Dois-je avoir?

The verb dormir, as shown in the chart, follows all of the predicted rules for conjugation in the perfect, imperfect, and future tenses. What you did is expressed in the perfect tense: you slept.’ It’s worth noting that the auxiliary verb avoir has been conjugated and is followed by the past participle dormir.

Is dormir regular or irregular?

In the present tense, the verbs partir, sortir, and dormir are irregular, meaning they are not conjugated like standard -ir verbs. Pay close attention to how these verbs are spoken, particularly the consonant sound in the plural forms.

Is dormir irregular Spanish?

In the instance of dormir, you may use it to wish someone a nice night’s sleep or to express that you don’t believe they are sleeping. Dormir is an irregular verb, as we’ve seen. To conjugate it in the subjunctive, we need TWO distinct irregular stems: duerm- for single pronouns (yo/t/él/ella/usted) and ellos/ellas for plural pronouns.

What is an imperfect indicative?

The Imperfect Indicative is a tense from the past. It is used to discuss continuing past activities, habitual past behaviors, and long-lasting human attributes or situations. It is used to describe the period in the past, moods/feelings/and emotions in the past, someone’s age in the past, and so on.

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