Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Que duermas bien y que no te dé vergüenza seguir practicando mañana. - May you sleep well and may you not feel embarrassed to keep practicing tomorrow.

Que duermas bien is a very common Spanish pattern to express a wish or blessing, similar to saying “Sleep well!” or “I hope you sleep well” in English.

Que + subjunctive = wish, hope, blessing, toast
- Que duermas bien → May you sleep well / Sleep well
- Que te vaya bien → Hope it goes well for you
- Que tengas un buen día → Have a good day

It is not a normal statement (indicative like duermes) and it’s not the usual imperative (duerme) either. It’s a special structure that feels softer and more caring, often used when saying goodbye, before someone goes to bed, etc.

So the que at the beginning signals: “I wish that…” or “May you…” even though Spanish doesn’t say the “I” explicitly.

Why is it duermas and not duermes in Que duermas bien?

Duermas is the present subjunctive form of dormir for tú.

Tú duermes → indicative (you sleep / you are sleeping)
Que tú duermas → subjunctive (that you sleep / may you sleep)

Spanish uses the subjunctive after que when expressing:

Wishes: Que duermas bien
Hopes: Ojalá que tengas suerte
Blessings/curses: Que te mejores pronto, Que te vaya mal (negative)

So Que duermas bien literally is like saying “(I wish) that you sleep well”, so it must use the subjunctive duermas, not duermes.

Can I drop the first que and just say Duermas bien?

No, not in standard Spanish.

Duermas bien by itself sounds incomplete or wrong in this context.
You either say:
- Que duermas bien (wish with subjunctive), or
- Duerme bien (direct command in the imperative, more like “Sleep well!” as an order).

The que is essential for this polite, wish-like structure using the subjunctive.

Why is que repeated in y que no te dé vergüenza? Could I say Que duermas bien y no te dé vergüenza… without the second que?

Both versions are possible, but they feel slightly different.

With both “que”s (as in your sentence):
- Que duermas bien y que no te dé vergüenza seguir practicando mañana.
  This makes it clear that there are two separate wishes:
- (I wish) that you sleep well
- (and I wish) that you’re not embarrassed to keep practicing tomorrow
With only one “que”:
- Que duermas bien y no te dé vergüenza seguir practicando mañana.
  Still correct. Spanish speakers often omit the second “que” in casual speech.
  The second verb dé is still understood as subjunctive because it depends on the first que.

So:

With the second que → slightly clearer, a bit more emphatic or careful.
Without it → more compact, very common in everyday speech.

What does no te dé vergüenza literally mean, and what is the role of te?

Literally, no te dé vergüenza means “may it not give you shame/embarrassment.”

dar vergüenza a alguien = to make someone feel embarrassed / to cause someone shame
- Me da vergüenza = It embarrasses me
- Te da vergüenza = It embarrasses you
- No te dé vergüenza = May it not embarrass you → Don’t be embarrassed

Breakdown:

dé → subjunctive of dar (3rd person singular: may it give)
te → indirect object pronoun (to you)
vergüenza → shame/embarrassment

So no te dé vergüenza seguir practicando = don’t be embarrassed to keep practicing (literally, may it not give you embarrassment to keep practicing).

The te is crucial; without it, we wouldn’t know who is feeling embarrassed.

Why does dé have an accent?

The accent distinguishes dé (verb) from de (preposition).

dé = subjunctive of dar (to give)
- Espero que te dé tiempo. – I hope it gives you time.
- Que no te dé vergüenza. – May it not give you embarrassment.
de = preposition (of, from)
- la casa de Juan – Juan’s house
- el vaso de agua – the glass of water

In this sentence, we clearly need the verb “give”, so it must be dé with an accent.

How do you pronounce the ü in vergüenza, and why is it written like that?

In vergüenza, the ü indicates that the u is pronounced.

Pronunciation: ver-GWEN-sa (the güen sounds like “gwen” in English “Gwen”).

Why the dots (diéresis)?

In Spanish, gue / gui normally make a “ge / gi” sound, with silent “u”:
- gente → HEN-te
- guitarra → gi-TAR-ra
If you want the u to be heard as “w” (like “gw” or “gwí”), you write güe / güi:
- vergüenza → ver-GWEN-sa
- bilingüe → bi-LING-gwe

So the ü in vergüenza tells you to pronounce the “u” instead of keeping it silent.

What does seguir practicando mean exactly, and why is practicando in that form?

Seguir practicando means “to keep practicing” / “to continue practicing.”

seguir = to continue / to keep (doing something)
practicando = gerund (the -ing form: practicing)

Spanish often uses seguir + gerundio to express continuation of an action:

seguir estudiando → to keep studying
seguir hablando → to keep talking
seguir intentando → to keep trying

So seguir practicando mañana = to keep practicing tomorrow.

You cannot say seguir practicar here; after seguir, you need the -ndo form (gerund): seguir practicando.

What nuance does vergüenza have here? Is it more like “shame” or “embarrassment”?

In this context, vergüenza means more “embarrassment / shyness / self-consciousness” than deep moral “shame.”

no te dé vergüenza seguir practicando
→ don’t feel shy / self-conscious about continuing to practice
→ don’t be embarrassed to keep practicing

Vergüenza can range from:

Mild social embarrassment:
- Me da vergüenza hablar en público. – I get embarrassed speaking in public.
Stronger shame (moral, social):
- No tienes vergüenza. – You have no shame.

Here, it’s the soft end: nervousness or embarrassment about continuing to practice.

Is Que duermas bien informal? How would I say it to someone I address as usted?

Yes, Que duermas bien is informal (tú).

For usted (polite form), you change the subjunctive to the usted form:

tú: Que duermas bien.
usted: Que duerma bien.

For plural:

ustedes (Latin America, plural “you”): Que duerman bien.
vosotros (Spain, informal plural): Que durmáis bien.

So, talking politely to one person in Latin America:

Que duerma bien y que no le dé vergüenza seguir practicando mañana.
(Here you also change te → le for usted.)

Is Que duermas bien grammatically a command?

Grammatically, no: it’s subjunctive, not the imperative.

Imperative (direct command, tú): Duerme bien. – Sleep well.
Subjunctive with que (wish): Que duermas bien. – May you sleep well / I hope you sleep well.

In practice, both can function like “commands” in the sense of telling someone what you want, but:

Imperative = more direct, like an instruction or order.
Que + subjunctive = softer, more like a wish, blessing, or nice closing phrase.

That’s why Que duermas bien sounds very natural and caring in Spanish when saying goodnight.