A dormi means to sleep. It is among the first verbs any learner needs, and it belongs to the plain fourth conjugation (the -i class) — meaning, crucially, that it takes no -esc- infix, unlike the more numerous iubi/găsi type. Its endings are therefore short and bare, but the stem itself changes: the stressed o of dorm- breaks into the diphthong oa wherever the stress falls on it and the following syllable contains an e or a. This gives the standout form doarme (he/she sleeps).
This o → oa alternation is one of the most systematic sound rules in Romanian and shows up across the language (port → poartă, mor → moare, scot → scoate). Once you recognize it here, you will predict it elsewhere. The logic is purely phonological, not grammatical: the diphthong appears whenever a stressed o is followed in the next syllable by an open vowel (e or a), and it disappears the moment the stress moves onto the ending. That is why doarme has oa but dormim does not — nothing about the meaning changes, only where the stress lands.
Unlike English sleep, which is intransitive but can be coaxed into a causative ("sleep the baby"), Romanian a dormi stays strictly intransitive; to put someone to sleep you switch to a adormi (am adormit copilul, "I got the child to sleep"). Keep the two apart.
Prezent indicativ
The stem is dorm- in the 1st singular and 3rd plural (stress falls right, no breaking), but doarm- in the 3rd singular doarme, where the o diphthongizes. The 1sg = 3pl identity (dorm) is typical of plain Class IV.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | dorm |
| tu | dormi |
| el / ea | doarme |
| noi | dormim |
| voi | dormiți |
| ei / ele | dorm |
Dorm opt ore pe noapte, altfel sunt o epavă.
I sleep eight hours a night, otherwise I'm a wreck.
Copilul doarme, vorbește mai încet.
The child is sleeping, talk more quietly.
Imperfect
Regular fourth-conjugation imperfect: the dorm- stem (no diphthong here, since the stress sits on the ending) plus the -eam endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | dormeam |
| tu | dormeai |
| el / ea | dormea |
| noi | dormeam |
| voi | dormeați |
| ei / ele | dormeau |
Pe vremea aceea dormeam la birou între ture.
Back then I used to sleep at the office between shifts.
Perfect compus
Formed with the auxiliary a avea plus the participle dormit.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | am dormit |
| tu | ai dormit |
| el / ea | a dormit |
| noi | am dormit |
| voi | ați dormit |
| ei / ele | au dormit |
N-am dormit deloc azi-noapte.
I didn't sleep at all last night.
Mai-mult-ca-perfectul
The synthetic pluperfect, built on the participle stem dormise-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | dormisem |
| tu | dormiseși |
| el / ea | dormise |
| noi | dormiserăm |
| voi | dormiserăți |
| ei / ele | dormiseră |
Nu dormisem mai bine de o săptămână când am ajuns acasă.
I hadn't slept that well in over a week by the time I got home.
Viitor
The formal voi + infinitive future alongside the colloquial o să + conjunctiv.
| Person | Viitor (voi-form, formal) | Colloquial (o să) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | voi dormi | o să dorm |
| tu | vei dormi | o să dormi |
| el / ea | va dormi | o să doarmă |
| noi | vom dormi | o să dormim |
| voi | veți dormi | o să dormiți |
| ei / ele | vor dormi | o să doarmă |
O să dorm până la prânz mâine, e sâmbătă.
I'm going to sleep until noon tomorrow, it's Saturday.
Conjunctiv prezent
Identical to the indicative except in the 3rd person, where the form is (să) doarmă — the diphthong oa plus the subjunctive -ă.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | să dorm |
| tu | să dormi |
| el / ea | să doarmă |
| noi | să dormim |
| voi | să dormiți |
| ei / ele | să doarmă |
Las lumina aprinsă ca să doarmă mai liniștit.
I leave the light on so he sleeps more peacefully.
Condițional prezent
The conditional auxiliary (aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar) plus the short infinitive dormi.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | aș dormi |
| tu | ai dormi |
| el / ea | ar dormi |
| noi | am dormi |
| voi | ați dormi |
| ei / ele | ar dormi |
Aș dormi o zi întreagă dacă m-ar lăsa cineva.
I'd sleep a whole day if anyone would let me.
Imperativ
The singular imperative is dormi! (identical to the 2sg present); the plural is dormiți! The negative singular uses the bare infinitive: nu dormi!
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| tu (sg.) | dormi! | nu dormi! |
| voi (pl.) | dormiți! | nu dormiți! |
Dormi bine, ne vedem mâine!
Sleep well, see you tomorrow!
Nu dormi la volan, oprește și odihnește-te.
Don't sleep at the wheel, pull over and rest.
Forme nepersonale
| Form | Romanian |
|---|---|
| Infinitiv | (a) dormi |
| Gerunziu | dormind |
| Participiu | dormit |
| Supin | de dormit |
Usage
A dormit buștean toată noaptea.
He slept like a log all night.
Pisica doarme mai tot timpul.
The cat sleeps almost all the time.
Hai la culcare, e timpul de dormit.
Come on, off to bed, it's time to sleep.
Am dormit pe canapea, că era prea cald în dormitor.
I slept on the couch, because it was too hot in the bedroom.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu dormesc opt ore.
Incorrect — a dormi is a plain Class IV verb and takes no -esc- infix.
✅ Eu dorm opt ore.
I sleep eight hours.
Forgetting the diphthong in the 3rd person is the classic error:
❌ Copilul dorme.
Incorrect — the stressed o breaks into oa: doarme.
✅ Copilul doarme.
The child is sleeping.
And the same in the subjunctive:
❌ Vreau să dorme liniștit.
Incorrect — the subjunctive 3rd person is doarmă, with the diphthong.
✅ Vreau să doarmă liniștit.
I want him to sleep peacefully.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Class IV Present: Plain -i VerbsA2 — How to conjugate the closed set of common Class IV (-i) verbs that take no -esc infix, including a dormi, a veni, and a simți, with their o → oa diphthongization.
- a veni — to comeA1 — Full conjugation of the irregular verb a veni (to come), including its irregular imperative vino! and its deictic meaning of motion toward the speaker.
- a găsi — to findA2 — Full conjugation of a găsi (to find), a fourth-conjugation -esc verb, including the reflexive a se găsi meaning to be located or situated.