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Conjugation Chart of “Dormir” (to sleep) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Dormir”

The Imperfect Tense of dormir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Cuando era niño, dormía con una luz encendida. (When I was a child, I used to sleep with a light on.)

Dormir is a regular -ir verb, so its Imperfect Tense conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

How to Use Dormir in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of dormir is used to describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past.

Describing an ongoing action in the past: For example, Yo dormía cuando sonó el teléfono. (I was sleeping when the phone rang.)

Describing a repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, De niño, yo dormía con una luz encendida. (As a child, I used to sleep with a light on.)

Describing a state or condition in the past: For example, Mis abuelos dormían en camas separadas. (My grandparents slept in separate beds.)

Describing background information or setting the scene: For example, Era medianoche y todos dormían tranquilamente. (It was midnight and everyone was sleeping peacefully.)

Colloquial/Slang usage: Dormirse en los laureles (to rest on one’s laurels, to become complacent after achieving success). Dormir la mona (to sleep off a hangover).

Real Life Examples of Dormir in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, dormía hasta tarde los fines de semana. (When I was a child, I used to sleep in late on the weekends.)

Mi abuela dormía una siesta todas las tardes después del almuerzo. (My grandmother used to take a nap every afternoon after lunch.)

Durante las vacaciones, dormíamos hasta que el sol estaba alto en el cielo. (During the holidays, we would sleep until the sun was high in the sky.)

Antes de tener hijos, la pareja dormía hasta tarde los domingos. (Before having kids, the couple used to sleep in late on Sundays.)

En su juventud, él dormía muy poco debido a su apretada agenda. (In his youth, he used to sleep very little due to his busy schedule.)

Cuando dormíamos en la casa de la abuela, escuchábamos los grillos por la noche. (When we used to sleep at grandma’s house, we would hear the crickets at night.)

Mi hermano dormía como un tronco y nada lo despertaba. (My brother used to sleep like a log and nothing would wake him up.)

En la universidad, dormía muy poco por estudiar tanto. (In college, I used to sleep very little because I studied so much.)

Ellos dormían con las ventanas abiertas para disfrutar la brisa fresca. (They used to sleep with the windows open to enjoy the cool breeze.)

Cuando dormíamos en la playa, el sonido de las olas era muy relajante. (When we used to sleep at the beach, the sound of the waves was very relaxing.)

De niño, dormía con un osito de peluche todas las noches. (As a child, I used to sleep with a teddy bear every night.)

Antes de tener aire acondicionado, dormíamos con los ventiladores encendidos. (Before having air conditioning, we used to sleep with the fans on.)

En el campamento, dormíamos en tiendas de campaña bajo las estrellas. (At the camp, we used to sleep in tents under the stars.)

Cuando dormía mal, me sentía cansado todo el día. (When I used to sleep poorly, I felt tired all day.)

Mi mejor amigo dormía hasta el mediodía los fines de semana. (My best friend used to sleep until noon on the weekends.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Dormir (to sleep) in the Imperfect Tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.