Spanish vocabulary · Beginner
Go To Sleep in Spanish: Dormirse
Dormirse · verb · dohr-MEER-seh
Dormirse is the reflexive form of dormir and means to fall asleep or to go to sleep. The phrase irse a dormir emphasizes the act of heading to bed, while acostarse means to lie down or go to bed physically. Dormir on its own simply means to sleep without the transitional meaning of falling asleep.
Say dohr-MEER-seh, stressing the second syllable. Dormir is a stem-changing verb (o → ue) in the present tense: me duermo.
Los niños necesitan dormirse antes de las nueve.
The kids need to go to sleep before nine.
Go To Sleep in Spanish: Quick Reference
Below are the most common Spanish words for go to sleep, with pronunciation and regional usage notes.
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation | Region / Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| dormirse | go to sleep | dohr-MEER-seh | Default, widely understood |
| irse a dormir | go to sleep | to go to bed / head off to sleep | |
| acostarse | go to sleep | to go to bed / lie down |
How Native Speakers Use Dormirse
Real example sentences across three contexts you'll actually run into.
Telling a child to sleep
Ya es tarde, duérmete de una vez.
It's late, go to sleep already.
Duérmete is the informal imperative of dormirse, commonly used with children.
Heading to bed
Estoy cansada, me voy a dormir.
I'm tired, I'm going to go to sleep.
Irse a dormir emphasizes the decision to go to bed rather than the act of falling asleep.
Having trouble sleeping
No pude dormirme hasta las tres de la mañana.
I couldn't go to sleep until three in the morning.
Dormirse highlights the transition from awake to asleep, making it perfect for insomnia contexts.
Avoid These Mistakes When Using Dormirse
Using dormir without the reflexive
Incorrect: Necesito dormir más temprano. (meaning: fall asleep)
Correct: Necesito dormirme más temprano.
Dormir means to sleep (the state), while dormirse means to fall asleep (the transition). Omitting the reflexive pronoun changes the meaning from going to sleep to simply sleeping.
Wrong stem change in imperative
Incorrect: ¡Dórmite ya!
Correct: ¡Duérmete ya!
Dormir undergoes an o-to-ue stem change in the present tense and imperative. The correct informal command is duérmete, not dórmite.
Lock in Go To Sleep Vocabulary with the Parrot Method
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See Dormirse used by native speakers
Parrot's short-form videos feature native speakers using dormirse in real situations. Context-based exposure beats flashcards, you hear Los niños necesitan dormirse antes de las nueve. while watching someone live the moment, connecting meaning, sound, and rhythm at once.
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Common Questions About Go To Sleep in Spanish
- How do you say go to sleep in Spanish?
- Go to sleep in Spanish is dormirse (to fall asleep) or irse a dormir (to head to bed). The imperative form duérmete is what you would say when telling someone to go to sleep right now.
- What is the difference between dormir and dormirse?
- Dormir means to sleep as an ongoing state, while dormirse means to fall asleep — the transition from being awake to being asleep. For example, Dormí ocho horas means I slept eight hours, but Me dormí a las diez means I fell asleep at ten.
- How do you conjugate dormirse in the present tense?
- Dormirse is a stem-changing verb (o → ue) in the present tense: me duermo, te duermes, se duerme, nos dormimos, se duermen. Notice that nosotros keeps the original o while all other forms change to ue.