Dormi means “to sleep” or “be asleep.” It is a regular, normally intransitive verb: the sleeper is the subject, and there is no patient receiving the action. Esperanto then uses transparent derivatives to separate three ideas that English sometimes leaves to context: dormi for the state, ekdormi for entering it, and dormigi for causing someone to sleep.
Complete regular paradigm
| Form | Function | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| dormi | infinitive | to sleep |
| dormas | present indicative | sleep(s), is sleeping |
| dormis | past indicative | slept, was sleeping |
| dormos | future indicative | will sleep |
| dormus | conditional | would sleep |
| dormu | volitive | sleep; let ... sleep |
The stem dorm- never changes, and the ending does not agree with the subject: mi dormas, la infano dormas, ili dormas. Esperanto's simple past does not force the English choice between “slept” and “was sleeping”; context supplies that distinction.
Mi dormas pli bone kiam la ĉambro estas malvarmeta.
I sleep better when the room is slightly cool.
Ni dormus ekstere, se la veterprognozo ne avertus pri ŝtormo.
We would sleep outside if the forecast did not warn of a storm.
Dormu iom; mi vekos vin antaŭ ol la trajno alvenos.
Get some sleep; I'll wake you before the train arrives.
An intransitive state
The person or animal asleep is the subject. A bed, room, position, or companion appears in a prepositional phrase rather than as an object.
La gasto dormis sur la sofo, ĉar la alia ĉambro ankoraŭ ne estis preta.
The guest slept on the sofa because the other room was not ready yet.
La bebo finfine dormas en sia propra lito.
The baby is finally sleeping in its own bed.
Use en for the enclosing place, sur for the supporting surface, and kun for company. These are ordinary spatial and social relations, not complements imposed arbitrarily by dormi.
English can use “sleep” causatively in expressions such as “sleep the baby” in some varieties. Esperanto does not give bare dormi that transitive role. Add -ig-: dormigi la bebon means cause the baby to sleep or put the baby to sleep.
La patro promenis kun la bebo ĝis li sukcesis dormigi ĝin.
The father walked with the baby until he managed to get it to sleep.
Duration is a measure, not an object
A duration may take accusative -n with no preposition: dormi ok horojn, dormi la tutan nokton. This accusative measures how long the state lasts; it does not make dormi transitive and cannot support a passive.
Post la nokta deĵoro ŝi dormis dek horojn sen interrompo.
After the night shift, she slept for ten hours without interruption.
Mi ne dormis la tutan nokton; la najbaroj festis ĝis la kvara.
I didn't sleep all night; the neighbors partied until four.
The explicit prepositional alternative dum ok horoj is also possible, especially when the duration phrase is long or contrastive. The bare accusative is concise and extremely common. See Time Duration for the broader measure pattern.
Dormi, ekdormi, and waking
Dormi names the continuing state. Ekdormi selects its first boundary: fall asleep. The prefix ek- commonly marks entry into an action or state, often with a sudden or punctual nuance. A person may try to sleep without actually falling asleep, so the distinction matters.
Mi enlitiĝis je la dekunua, sed ekdormis nur post noktomezo.
I went to bed at eleven, but I didn't fall asleep until after midnight.
— Ĉu Eva jam dormas? — Jes, ŝi ekdormis antaŭ kelkaj minutoj.
— Is Eva asleep already? — Yes, she fell asleep a few minutes ago.
Vekiĝi is the ordinary intransitive opposite “wake up”; veki is transitive “wake someone.” Endormiĝi is also established for falling into sleep. In current neutral usage, ekdormi is especially direct and transparent. Endormiĝi may give more attention to the transition into the state, but speakers often use the two with little practical difference.
Participles: active forms only in the core use
Because the sleeper is the subject, the regular active participles are useful:
| Relation to the reference time | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sleep in progress | dormanta | sleeping |
| sleep already completed | dorminta | having slept |
| sleep still ahead | dormonta | about to sleep |
Parolu mallaŭte, ĉar en la apuda ĉambro estas dormanta infano.
Speak quietly, because there is a sleeping child in the next room.
Bone dorminte, mi povis multe pli klare pensi pri la problemo.
Having slept well, I could think about the problem much more clearly.
Ordinary dormi has no direct object, so passive dormata, dormita, dormota do not belong to its core paradigm. A duration ending in -n remains a measure, not an object. This restriction follows from valency, not from an irregularity in the participle endings.
Productive family and collocations
- dormo — sleep;
- dormado — sleeping as an activity or prolonged process;
- dormema — sleepy, inclined to sleep;
- dormeti — doze, sleep lightly or briefly;
- dormegi — sleep very deeply or for a long time, with emphatic force;
- dormĉambro — bedroom;
- maldormi — remain awake or be awake instead of sleeping.
Mi dormetis dudek minutojn en la trajno kaj preskaŭ preterveturis mian stacion.
I dozed for twenty minutes on the train and nearly went past my station.
Post tri tasoj da kafo li ankoraŭ sentis sin dormema.
After three cups of coffee, he still felt sleepy.
Maldormi is not always identical to merely ne dormi. The latter simply negates sleep; maldormi positively presents wakefulness, often sustained or deliberate. (literary) Descriptions may exploit dormegi or compounds creatively, but everyday speakers generally prefer the transparent core words above.
Frequency, register, and status
Dormi is a frequent, neutral verb in conversation, health advice, narration, and formal prose. The root is Fundamental, and its six verb endings and active participles follow the foundational system without irregular forms. Ekdormi, dormigi, and the other transparent derivatives are standard productive formations. Corpus usage strongly favors intransitive dormi with place and duration expressions; the pedagogical recommendation is therefore to reserve -n after it for measures, not imagined patients.
Common Mistakes
Making the sleeper an object of bare dormi
❌ Mi dormis la bebon post la manĝo.
Incorrect — bare dormi does not mean put someone to sleep.
✅ Mi dormigis la bebon post la manĝo.
I put the baby to sleep after the meal.
Copying English “in bed” with an unsuitable relation
❌ Li dormis ĉe la lito la tutan nokton.
Incorrect for sleeping in the bed — ĉe means beside or at it.
✅ Li dormis en la lito la tutan nokton.
He slept in the bed all night.
Using dormi for the moment sleep begins
❌ Mi dormis tuj kiam mi fermis la okulojn.
Misleading if the intended event is falling asleep, not being asleep.
✅ Mi ekdormis tuj kiam mi fermis la okulojn.
I fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.
Treating a duration as proof of transitivity
❌ Ok horoj estis dormitaj de ŝi.
Incorrect as an ordinary passive — ok horojn measures duration and is not an object.
✅ Ŝi dormis ok horojn.
She slept for eight hours.
Key Takeaways
- Dormi is regular and intransitive; the sleeper is its subject.
- Duration can use accusative -n, but that marking expresses measure rather than an object.
- Ekdormi marks the beginning of sleep, while dormigi adds a causer and a direct object.
- Core dormi has active participles but no ordinary passive participles.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Transitive and Intransitive VerbsA2 — Learn which verbs license a direct object, which require another construction, and how Esperanto systematically changes valency.
- Time DurationA1 — Express how long an event lasts by marking a time measure with -n or by using an explicit duration phrase.
- ek-: Inchoative Or Sudden OnsetA2 — Use ek- to focus on the first moment of an action or package a brief sudden event.
- -ig-: CausationB2 — Use -ig- to make something acquire a quality, enter a state, or perform an action, while tracking how causation changes verb valency.
- -iĝ-: Becoming, Spontaneous ChangeB2 — Use -iĝ- for entering a new state, action, or location and for intransitive change whose affected participant becomes the subject.
- The Six Participles: A System MapB1 — Map Esperanto's six participles by voice and relative time, then use them as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and compound verb forms.