Questions & Answers about Je vais bien dormir cette nuit.
Vais is the first‑person singular of aller (to go): je vais = I go / I am going.
In this sentence, aller + infinitive (je vais dormir) forms what’s called the near future in French, similar to English “I’m going to sleep.”
- Je vais dormir = I’m going to sleep
- Je dors = I sleep / I am sleeping (present)
So je vais bien dormir literally is “I’m going to well sleep,” but idiomatically, “I’m going to sleep well.”
Both can be translated as “I will sleep well,” but there’s a nuance:
Je vais bien dormir cette nuit.
- Near future (aller + infinitive)
- Very common in spoken French
- Slightly more immediate / conversational, like “I’m gonna sleep well tonight.”
Je dormirai bien cette nuit.
- Simple future tense
- Feels a bit more neutral/formal or slightly more detached
- Very common in writing and careful speech
Meaning-wise they’re almost the same; the difference is mainly style and tone, not content.
In French, the position of adverbs is more fixed than in English. With aller + infinitive:
- The main action verb is the infinitive (dormir).
- The adverb (bien) usually goes right before that infinitive.
So the natural pattern is:
- Je vais bien dormir. ✅
- Je vais beaucoup travailler. ✅
- Je vais mal conduire. ✅
Je vais dormir bien is grammatically possible but sounds strange and unidiomatic in most contexts. Native speakers almost always say je vais bien dormir.
Good to notice that, but in this sentence, context and rhythm make the meaning clear.
- Je vais bien. by itself = I’m fine / I’m doing well.
- Je vais bien dormir. = I’m going to sleep well.
The difference is how the sentence is chunked:
- Je vais bien. / dormir. (pause after bien) → “I’m fine. / to sleep.” (two separate ideas; not normal here)
- Je vais / bien dormir. (no pause, bien sticks to dormir) → “I’m going to sleep well.”
In normal speech, bien is clearly heard with dormir, not with vais, so native speakers don’t confuse the two meanings.
French makes a clear distinction:
Bon / bonne is an adjective (good) used with nouns:
- une bonne nuit = a good night
- un bon sommeil = good sleep
Bien is an adverb (well) used with verbs:
- bien dormir = to sleep well
- bien manger = to eat well
- bien travailler = to work well
Since dormir is a verb, you need the adverb:
→ Je vais bien dormir. = I am going to sleep well.
Not: ✗ Je vais bon dormir.
They’re related but not identical:
Ce soir = this evening / tonight (the evening period, before you go to bed).
- Je vais sortir ce soir. = I’m going out this evening/tonight.
Cette nuit = this night / tonight (the nighttime while you’re sleeping).
- Je vais bien dormir cette nuit. = I’m going to sleep well tonight (during the night).
So for sleep, dreams, noises in the middle of the night, etc., cette nuit is more natural.
Yes. Cette nuit can mean “last night” or “tonight” depending on context and time of speaking:
In the morning or later in the day, referring to the night that has just passed:
- J’ai mal dormi cette nuit. = I slept badly last night.
Earlier in the day, talking about the night that is coming:
- Je vais bien dormir cette nuit. = I’m going to sleep well tonight.
French often uses context instead of changing the form. If it must be explicit, people might say:
- La nuit dernière = last night
- Cette nuit qui vient / cette nuit-ci (more marked) = this coming night
Use ne … pas around the conjugated verb aller, and keep bien before dormir:
- Je ne vais pas bien dormir cette nuit.
= I’m not going to sleep well tonight.
Structure:
- Je (subject)
- ne
- vais (conjugated verb) + pas
- bien (adverb)
- dormir (infinitive)
- cette nuit (time expression)
In casual speech, many people drop ne and say:
- Je vais pas bien dormir cette nuit. (informal)
You can, but the meaning changes slightly:
Je vais dormir cette nuit.
= I’m going to sleep tonight. (neutral: just the fact of sleeping)Je vais bien dormir cette nuit.
= I’m going to sleep well tonight. (emphasis on the quality of the sleep)
So bien adds the idea of how you will sleep, not just whether you will sleep.
Je dors bien cette nuit is odd because je dors is present tense (“I am sleeping / I sleep”) and cette nuit refers to the whole night. You would almost never comment during the night on how you are sleeping.
Typical uses:
Talking about a general habit:
- Je dors bien. = I sleep well (in general).
Talking about tonight (future):
- Je vais bien dormir cette nuit. ✅ (I’m going to sleep well tonight.)
- Je dormirai bien cette nuit. ✅ (same idea, simple future)
To talk about the night that just passed:
- J’ai bien dormi cette nuit. ✅ = I slept well last night.
Key points:
- Je vais → roughly zhuh veh [ʒə vɛ]
- bien → nasal vowel, like byeh(n) [bjɛ̃] (the n is not fully pronounced)
- dormir → [dɔʁmiʁ]; the French r in the throat
- cette → [sɛt], with a clear t
- nuit → [nɥi], the ui is one sound, like wee but more rounded
Liaison:
- No liaison between vais and bien (the s in vais is silent).
- Between bien and dormir, liaison is optional; most people say:
- bien dormir = [bjɛ̃ dɔʁmiʁ] (no liaison)
Said naturally: something like
[ʒə vɛ bjɛ̃ dɔʁmiʁ sɛt nɥi].
Yes, and it’s natural. You stack the adverbs in front of the infinitive:
- Je vais vraiment bien dormir cette nuit.
= I’m really going to sleep well tonight.
Word order:
- Je vais (near future auxiliary)
- vraiment bien (adverbs, with vraiment modifying bien dormir)
- dormir (main verb)
- cette nuit (time phrase)
Other similar patterns:
- Je vais très bien dormir cette nuit.
- Je vais sûrement bien dormir cette nuit.