Dormir is "to sleep," and it is one of the small group of irregular -ir verbs (3e groupe) that English-speaking learners must master early. It conjugates exactly like partir, sortir, sentir, mentir, and servir — the so-called partir family. Crucially, dormir is intransitive but takes avoir in compound tenses, breaking the rough-and-ready association of "motion or state-change verbs use être." It is not in the maison d'être. J'ai dormi, never je suis dormi.
This page is the full reference: every paradigm, the principal uses, and the rich set of idioms French has built around sleep — from dormir comme une souche (to sleep like a log) to dormir sur ses deux oreilles (to sleep soundly without worry).
The conjugation pattern
The pattern is the partir family: in the singular present, the consonant before the ending drops (je dors, no m); in the plural, it returns (nous dormons). The pattern then propagates through the imparfait, the subjonctif, and so on, all built from the nous stem dorm- with regular endings.
Présent de l'indicatif
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | dors | /dɔʁ/ |
| tu | dors | /dɔʁ/ |
| il / elle / on | dort | /dɔʁ/ |
| nous | dormons | /dɔʁ.mɔ̃/ |
| vous | dormez | /dɔʁ.me/ |
| ils / elles | dorment | /dɔʁm/ |
The three singular forms are pronounced identically — dors, dors, dort are all /dɔʁ/. The /m/ only appears in the plural. This consonant alternation is the hallmark of the partir family.
Je dors mal en ce moment, j'ai trop de travail en tête.
I'm sleeping badly right now, I've got too much work on my mind.
Tu dors encore ? Il est dix heures !
You're still asleep? It's ten o'clock!
Les enfants dorment, ne fais pas de bruit.
The kids are asleep, don't make any noise.
Imparfait
Built on the nous stem dorm- plus the regular endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dormais |
| tu | dormais |
| il / elle / on | dormait |
| nous | dormions |
| vous | dormiez |
| ils / elles | dormaient |
The imparfait is the natural tense for sleeping in the past — sleep is a state, an ongoing background action. Quand le téléphone a sonné, je dormais (When the phone rang, I was asleep) is exactly the kind of imparfait/passé composé pairing French requires.
Quand on m'a appelé, je dormais profondément.
When they called me, I was sound asleep.
Avant, je dormais huit heures par nuit, maintenant à peine six.
I used to sleep eight hours a night, now barely six.
Passé simple (literary)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dormis |
| tu | dormis |
| il / elle / on | dormit |
| nous | dormîmes |
| vous | dormîtes |
| ils / elles | dormirent |
Note the circumflex on dormîmes and dormîtes — required.
Il dormit d'un sommeil agité jusqu'à l'aube.
He slept restlessly until dawn. (literary)
Futur simple
Stem: the full infinitive dormir-. Endings: regular.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dormirai |
| tu | dormiras |
| il / elle / on | dormira |
| nous | dormirons |
| vous | dormirez |
| ils / elles | dormiront |
Je dormirai dans le train, ça ira.
I'll sleep on the train, it'll be fine.
On dormira mieux quand les examens seront finis.
We'll sleep better when exams are done.
Conditionnel présent
Same stem dormir-, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | dormirais |
| tu | dormirais |
| il / elle / on | dormirait |
| nous | dormirions |
| vous | dormiriez |
| ils / elles | dormiraient |
Je dormirais bien encore une heure si je pouvais.
I'd happily sleep another hour if I could.
Subjonctif présent
Stem dorm- (same as nous dormons with -ons dropped).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | dorme |
| (que) tu | dormes |
| (qu')il / elle / on | dorme |
| (que) nous | dormions |
| (que) vous | dormiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | dorment |
Il faut que tu dormes plus, tu as une mine affreuse.
You need to sleep more, you look awful.
J'aimerais qu'elle dorme dans sa propre chambre maintenant.
I'd like her to sleep in her own room now.
Impératif
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | dors |
| (nous) | dormons |
| (vous) | dormez |
Dors bien, mon chéri.
Sleep well, sweetheart.
Dormez tranquilles, on s'occupe de tout.
Sleep easy, we're taking care of everything.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: dormi (invariable in standard usage — dormir is intransitive, no direct object can precede)
- Participe présent: dormant
- Gérondif: en dormant
Il parle en dormant, c'est bizarre.
He talks in his sleep, it's weird.
J'ai vu une chatte dormant au soleil sur le rebord de la fenêtre.
I saw a cat sleeping in the sun on the windowsill.
The participle dormi is invariable because dormir takes no direct object. There is nothing for it to agree with — even with avoir, agreement only happens with a preceding direct object, and dormir simply cannot have one. Les heures que j'ai dormi — no agreement (heures here is a complement of duration, not a direct object).
Compound tenses (with avoir)
Dormir is not in the maison d'être, despite being a state verb. It takes avoir in all compound tenses. This is a recurring trip-up: learners assume that anything intransitive takes être, but only the closed list of maison d'être verbs (motion verbs and naître / mourir / rester / devenir) qualify. Dormir, vivre, travailler, réfléchir — all intransitive, all take avoir.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + dormi
J'ai dormi comme un bébé cette nuit.
I slept like a baby last night.
Tu as bien dormi ?
Did you sleep well?
On a mal dormi à cause du bruit.
We slept badly because of the noise.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + dormi
Je n'avais pas dormi de la nuit, j'étais épuisé.
I hadn't slept all night, I was exhausted.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + dormi
Quand tu te réveilleras, j'aurai déjà dormi huit heures.
When you wake up, I'll have already slept eight hours.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + dormi
J'aurais mieux dormi sans tout ce café.
I would have slept better without all that coffee.
Major uses
1. To sleep (literal)
The core, everyday meaning.
Le bébé dort enfin, on va pouvoir manger.
The baby's finally asleep, we can eat now.
Je dors mieux quand il fait frais dans la chambre.
I sleep better when the bedroom is cool.
2. Bien dormir / mal dormir — sleep quality
The standard way to talk about how well you slept. Bien and mal go before the participle in compound tenses.
J'ai bien dormi, merci.
I slept well, thanks.
Elle a mal dormi à cause des moustiques.
She slept badly because of the mosquitoes.
3. Dormir debout — to be exhausted (figuratively)
Literally "to sleep standing up." Used to describe extreme tiredness.
Je dors debout, je rentre.
I'm dead on my feet, I'm going home.
4. Dormir dehors / à la belle étoile — to sleep outdoors
On a dormi à la belle étoile sur la plage.
We slept under the stars on the beach.
5. To lie dormant / be inactive (extended use)
For projects, files, or money sitting unused.
Ce projet dort dans un tiroir depuis trois ans.
This project has been sitting in a drawer for three years.
Tu as de l'argent qui dort sur ton compte épargne ?
Do you have money sitting idle in your savings account?
High-frequency idioms
The French built dozens of idioms around dormir. The most useful:
- dormir comme une souche — to sleep like a log (literally: like a stump)
- dormir comme un loir — to sleep like a dormouse (= deeply, for ages)
- dormir comme un bébé — to sleep like a baby
- dormir sur ses deux oreilles — to sleep soundly, without worry
- dormir d'un œil — to sleep with one eye open (= sleep lightly, alert)
- ne dormir que d'un œil — to never quite let one's guard down
- qui dort dîne — "he who sleeps, eats" — proverbial: sleeping makes you forget hunger
- à dormir debout — implausible, far-fetched (e.g. une histoire à dormir debout = a tall tale)
- ça ne m'empêche pas de dormir — that doesn't keep me up at night (= I don't worry about it)
J'ai dormi comme une souche, douze heures d'affilée.
I slept like a log, twelve hours straight.
Avec les enfants à la grand-mère, on peut dormir sur nos deux oreilles.
With the kids at Grandma's, we can sleep easy.
Il m'a raconté une histoire à dormir debout.
He told me a tall tale (literally: a story to sleep standing up to).
Ses critiques ne m'empêchent pas de dormir.
His criticism doesn't keep me up at night.
S'endormir — to fall asleep
A separate, related verb: pronominal, meaning "to fall asleep." Note the contrast: dormir is the state of being asleep, s'endormir is the moment of transitioning into sleep. S'endormir takes être in compound tenses (it is pronominal, like all reflexive verbs).
Je m'endors devant la télé tous les soirs.
I fall asleep in front of the TV every night.
Elle s'est endormie à minuit passé.
She fell asleep after midnight.
On s'endort plus vite quand on a fait du sport.
You fall asleep faster when you've exercised.
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
English distinguishes "sleep" and "be asleep" with auxiliaries (am sleeping vs. sleep); French uses one verb for both. Je dors covers both "I sleep" (habitual) and "I am sleeping" (right now). Context disambiguates.
English "fall asleep" is a phrasal verb; French uses a separate verb, s'endormir. Don't try to construct tomber dormir — it doesn't exist. Use s'endormir.
English "I had been sleeping" maps to je dormais (imparfait), not a compound. The plus-que-parfait j'avais dormi is "I had slept" (completed), not "I had been sleeping." For ongoing past states, French uses imparfait.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using être in compound tenses.
❌ Je suis dormi huit heures.
Wrong — *dormir* takes *avoir*, despite being intransitive.
✅ J'ai dormi huit heures.
I slept for eight hours.
Mistake 2: Constructing fall asleep as tomber + dormir.
❌ Je suis tombé dormir vers minuit.
Wrong — French uses the pronominal *s'endormir*, not *tomber*.
✅ Je me suis endormi vers minuit.
I fell asleep around midnight.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the consonant alternation in singular vs plural.
❌ Je dorms / Il dorm.
Wrong — singular drops the *m*: *je dors*, *il dort*.
✅ Je dors / Il dort / Nous dormons.
I sleep / He sleeps / We sleep.
Mistake 4: Using the present where French wants the imparfait for past states.
❌ Quand le téléphone a sonné, je dors.
Wrong tense — past background state requires the imparfait.
✅ Quand le téléphone a sonné, je dormais.
When the phone rang, I was asleep.
Mistake 5: Translating "sleep with someone" too literally.
❌ Je dors avec elle. (intended: I'm in a relationship)
Ambiguous — *dormir avec quelqu'un* literally means sharing a bed, but more often implies sex; for romance, use *sortir avec*.
✅ Je sors avec elle.
I'm dating her.
Key takeaways
Dormir is a 3e-groupe -ir verb meaning to sleep. Its conjugation is identical to partir, sortir, sentir, mentir, servir: drop the consonant in the singular present, restore in the plural (je dors, nous dormons).
It is intransitive but takes avoir in compound tenses (j'ai dormi, never je suis dormi). Past participle dormi is invariable. The futur stem is the full infinitive dormir-; the subjunctive uses the present nous stem (que je dorme).
The verb anchors a wide network of idioms: dormir comme une souche, dormir sur ses deux oreilles, à dormir debout. The transition into sleep is a separate verb — s'endormir — pronominal, with être as auxiliary.
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