Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "dormir" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce dormir in Spanish?

dormir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /doɾˈmiɾ/. It means “to sleep.” dor-MEER, stressed at the end, with two single taps of the r.

dor-MEER, stressed at the end, with two single taps of the r.

dormir /doɾˈmiɾ/

Two syllables, dor-MIR, beat on the last from the r ending. It is a stem-changing verb: when the stress lands on the stem, the o splits into ue, giving DUER-mo and DUER-mes; in the past tense the o goes further and becomes a u, as in dur-MIÓ, which needs an accent to keep the beat at the end.

Listen: dormir

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Sound it out

dor A dental d, a pure "oh", and one quick tap of the r. The r must not colour the vowel — English would merge them into a long "or", and Spanish keeps them apart.

mi A normal m and a tight "ee" as in "see", carrying the stress.

r A second single tap to close the word. Neither r here is trilled.

Hear it in a sentence

Los niños ya duermen.

The children are already asleep.

Listen: Los niños ya duermen.

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"Los niños ya duermen" uses the stem-changed plural form — DWEHR-men — with the ue as a single glide. Spanish uses the present tense where English reaches for a progressive "are already asleep", and "ya" carries the sense of already or by now. The ñ in "niños" is one fused sound.

Where English speakers slip

The first r is where English does its worst work, bending "dor" into the American "door" and swallowing the vowel entirely. Say a pure "oh", then flick the tongue once. The stressed vowel then gets slackened into "ih", giving "dor-MIHR" instead of a tight "ee". And in conjugation, "dormo" instead of "duermo" is the near-universal beginner slip.