dormir Negative Imperative Conjugation
dormir — to sleep
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no duermas, no duerma, no durmamos.
dormir Negative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Negative Imperative
Use this to tell someone NOT to sleep (e.g., 'Don't sleep in class' or 'Don't sleep during the movie').
Notes on dormir in the Negative Imperative
Since these are based on the present subjunctive, the 'u' appears in the nosotros and vosotros forms, while 'ue' is used for the others.
Example Sentences
No duermas en el sofá, te dolerá la espalda.
Don't sleep on the sofa, your back will hurt.
tú
No durmamos todavía, la película no ha terminado.
Let's not sleep yet, the movie hasn't finished.
nosotros
¡No se duerman en clase!
Don't fall asleep in class! (plural)
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'no duerme' for a command.
Correct: no duermas
Why: Negative commands must use the subjunctive ending (-as for -ir verbs), not the indicative ending (-es).
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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.
Imperfect
yo: dormía
The imperfect of dormir is regular: dormía, dormías, dormía, dormíamos, dormíais, dormían.
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.