Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.

French standard negation is usually built with ne before the conjugated verb and another negative word after it, often pas.

So:

• Je dors = I sleep
• Je ne dors pas = I do not sleep

In this sentence, presque is added to soften the idea:

• Je ne dors presque pas = I almost do not sleep / I hardly sleep

So ne ... presque pas means hardly / barely.

Because presque modifies the negation. The structure is:

• ne + verb + presque pas

So:

• Je ne dors presque pas

This is the normal word order for saying hardly or almost not in French.

Compare:

• Je ne mange presque pas. = I hardly eat.
• Il ne parle presque pas. = He hardly speaks.

It is very close, but not exactly identical in tone.

• Je ne dors presque pas = I hardly sleep / I barely sleep
• Je ne dors pas beaucoup = I don’t sleep much

Presque pas usually sounds stronger than pas beaucoup. It suggests very little, almost none.

Because it is conjugated for je in the present tense.

The present tense of dormir begins like this:

• je dors
• tu dors
• il/elle/on dort
• nous dormons
• vous dormez
• ils/elles dorment

So Je ne dors presque pas uses the correct je form: dors.

French often uses the present tense for general habits, repeated situations, and facts.

So:

• Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.

means something like:

• I hardly sleep when I’m stressed.
• I don’t sleep much when I’m stressed.

It describes a general pattern, not just one specific moment.

Quand means when. It introduces the time condition:

• quand je suis stressé = when I am stressed

The phrase je suis stressé uses:

• je suis = I am
• stressé = stressed

So the second part is built very literally: when I am stressed.

Because stressé is treated as an adjective here, just like in English I am tired, I am nervous, I am stressed.

So:

• je suis fatigué = I am tired
• je suis nerveux = I am nervous
• je suis stressé = I am stressed

French commonly uses être + adjective for states and feelings.

The adjective must agree with the gender of the speaker.

• A male speaker would usually say stressé
• A female speaker would usually say stressée

So the sentence changes depending on who says it:

• Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.
• Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressée.

The pronunciation is also slightly different because stressée has an extra written e, though in speech the difference is mainly in spelling unless liaison or context makes it noticeable.

In informal spoken French, yes, many speakers drop ne:

• Je dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.

This is very common in conversation.

But in standard written French and careful speech, you should keep ne:

• Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.

So for learners, it is best to learn the full form first.

No, the final -s in dors is normally silent.

dors is pronounced roughly like dor.

A simple pronunciation guide for the whole sentence:

• Je → like zhuh
• ne → nuh or very light in connected speech
• dors → dor
• presque → presk
• pas → pah
• quand → nasal vowel, roughly kahn
• je suis → zhuh swee
• stressé → streh-say

In natural speech, it flows together quite a bit.

It can often feel like whenever in English, because the sentence describes a repeated situation.

• Je ne dors presque pas quand je suis stressé.

This can mean:

• I hardly sleep when I’m stressed.
• I hardly sleep whenever I’m stressed.

Both are natural translations depending on context.

Yes, grammatically you could say:

• Je ne dors presque pas lorsque je suis stressé.

But quand is more common and more natural in everyday speech. Lorsque is a bit more formal or literary.

So in normal conversation, quand is usually the better choice.

Both can express the idea of hardly / barely, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• Je ne dors presque pas = I hardly sleep
• Je dors à peine = I barely sleep

Both are possible, but:

• presque pas is built as a negative structure
• à peine is another expression meaning barely

For a learner, ne ... presque pas is very useful because you can apply it to many verbs easily:

• Je ne mange presque pas.
• Il ne parle presque pas.
• Nous ne sortons presque pas.

Because French negation wraps around the conjugated verb.

The basic pattern is:

• ne + conjugated verb + pas

So:

• Je ne dors pas

When another word like presque is added, it goes after the verb and before pas:

• Je ne dors presque pas

This is just standard French word order, and it is something English speakers need to get used to.