Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish
How to say "to sleep" in Spanish
"To sleep" in Spanish is dormir, pronounced dohr-MEER (stress on the syllable in capitals).
| Spanish | dormir |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | dohr-MEER |
| Meaning | to sleep |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Frequency | #91 in the Palabra list of common Spanish words |
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice.
How to pronounce dormir
Dormir is pronounced dohr-MEER, in IPA /doɾˈmiɾ/. Dormir has two syllables, dohr-MEER, with the stress on the second. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a consonant other than -n or -s are stressed on the last syllable.
Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Example sentences
Los niños duermen
the children sleep
Ella duerme mucho
She sleeps a lot
Duermo ocho horas.
I sleep eight hours.
"To sleep" in Spain and Latin America
Useful phrases
- dormirse
to fall asleep - dormir la siesta
to take a nap after lunch
Regional words and roots: Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE). Spanish varies by region, so treat these as the most common patterns, not strict rules.
How to remember dormir
dormir [dohr-MEER] sounds like the English “dormitory”. Picture this:
The whole dormitory sleeps in sync: one snore starts and forty bunks answer.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.
Practice dormir
Two quick games, right here: no sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere.