dormir Preterite Conjugation
dormir — to sleep
Dormir has a stem change (o to u) in the third-person forms: durmió and durmieron.
dormir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite to talk about how much or how well someone slept during a specific, completed period in the past, like last night or during a flight.
Notes on dormir in the Preterite
This is a 'slipper verb.' The stem changes from 'o' to 'u' only in the third-person singular (él/ella/usted) and plural (ellos/ellas/ustedes). All other forms follow regular -ir patterns.
Example Sentences
Anoche dormí diez horas.
Last night I slept ten hours.
yo
El bebé durmió toda la noche.
The baby slept all night.
él/ella/usted
No durmieron nada en el avión.
They didn't sleep at all on the plane.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'dormió' instead of 'durmió'.
Correct: durmió
Why: In the preterite, -ir verbs with a stem change in the present indicative always change o > u in the third person.
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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.
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.
Negative Imperative
yo: no duermas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no duermas, no duerma, no durmamos.