dormir Imperfect Conjugation
dormir — to sleep
The imperfect of dormir is regular: dormía, dormías, dormía, dormíamos, dormíais, dormían.
dormir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe past sleep habits (how you used to sleep) or to set the scene (e.g., 'While I was sleeping...').
Notes on dormir in the Imperfect
Dormir is regular in the imperfect. There are no stem changes; just use the standard -ir endings.
Example Sentences
De niño, dormía con una luz encendida.
As a child, I used to sleep with a light on.
yo
Dormíamos en hoteles baratos cuando viajábamos.
We used to sleep in cheap hotels when we traveled.
nosotros
Ellos dormían cuando llegué a casa.
They were sleeping when I arrived home.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent mark on the 'i'.
Correct: dormía
Why: All imperfect endings for -er and -ir verbs require an accent on the 'í'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: duermo
Dormir is a stem-changing verb where the 'o' becomes 'ue' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: dormí
Dormir has a stem change (o to u) in the third-person forms: durmió and durmieron.
Future
yo: dormiré
The future tense of dormir is regular: dormiré, dormirás, dormirá, dormiremos, dormiréis, dormirán.
Conditional
yo: dormiría
The conditional of dormir is regular: dormiría, dormirías, dormiría, dormiríamos, dormiríais, dormirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: duerma
Dormir changes o > ue in most forms, but importantly o > u in the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: durmiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'durm-' stem for all forms: durmiera, durmieras, durmiera, etc.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: duerme
The imperative uses 'duerme' for tú and 'duerma' for usted, with 'durmamos' for let's sleep.
Negative Imperative
yo: no duermas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no duermas, no duerma, no durmamos.