dormir, endormir, rendormir

ByFast French

The French verbs dormir, endormir, and rendormir all relate to sleep but have distinct meanings and uses. They can be used in their transitive, intransitive, or pronominal forms.

1. Dormir (to sleep)

  • Meaning: To sleep.
  • Form: Intransitive (does not take a direct object).
  • Etymology: From Latin dormire, meaning “to sleep.”

Conjugation:

  • Present:
    Je dors, tu dors, il dort, nous dormons, vous dormez, ils dorment.
  • Passé Composé:
    J’ai dormi, tu as dormi, il a dormi, nous avons dormi, vous avez dormi, ils ont dormi.

Examples:

  • Je dors huit heures par nuit.
    (I sleep eight hours a night.)
  • Hier, j’ai dormi jusqu’à midi.
    (Yesterday, I slept until noon.)

2. Endormir (to put to sleep, to fall asleep)

  • Meaning:
  • Transitive: To put someone or something to sleep.
  • Pronominal (s’endormir): To fall asleep.
  • Etymology: From Latin in- (into) + dormire (to sleep).

Conjugation:

  • Present:
    J’endors, tu endors, il endort, nous endormons, vous endormez, ils endorment.
  • Passé Composé:
    J’ai endormi, tu as endormi, il a endormi, nous avons endormi, vous avez endormi, ils ont endormi.

Examples:

  • Transitive:
    La musique endort le bébé.
    (The music puts the baby to sleep.)
  • Pronominal:
    Je m’endors toujours devant la télé.
    (I always fall asleep in front of the TV.)
  • Hier, je me suis endormi à 22 heures.
    (Yesterday, I fell asleep at 10 p.m.)

3. Rendormir (to put back to sleep, to fall back asleep)

  • Meaning:
  • Transitive: To put someone or something back to sleep.
  • Pronominal (se rendormir): To fall back asleep.
  • Etymology: From Latin re- (again) + dormire (to sleep).

Conjugation:

  • Present:
    Je rendors, tu rendors, il rendort, nous rendormons, vous rendormez, ils rendorment.
  • Passé Composé:
    J’ai rendormi, tu as rendormi, il a rendormi, nous avons rendormi, vous avez rendormi, ils ont rendormi.

Examples:

  • Transitive:
    Elle a rendormi son enfant après le cauchemar.
    (She put her child back to sleep after the nightmare.)
  • Pronominal:
    Je me suis rendormi après le bruit.
    (I fell back asleep after the noise.)

Key Differences:

  • Dormir: Simply means “to sleep.”
  • Endormir: Focuses on the act of falling asleep or making someone sleep.
  • Rendormir: Focuses on returning to sleep or making someone sleep again.

Don’t miss new articles!

Get 1 email a week with new articles about French

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy

Similar Posts

  • reciprocal or réciproque

    ByFast French

    French uses reflexive pronouns such as me, te, se, nous, vous, se not only for reflexive meaning, but also for reciprocal meaning. In a reciprocal construction, two or more people act on each other. In a reflexive construction, the subject acts on itself. The French word for “reciprocal” is réciproque. The form is the same…

  • Telling time

    ByFast French

    The french tell time in two ways. The common way for everyday speech. And the official way for timetables, tv guides, and train schedules. the 12-hour clock For ordinary life, the french use the 12-hour clock like english speakers do. But they say things a little differently. To ask the time, you say: To answer,…

  • subjunctive irregular verbs

    ByFast French

    While many French verbs form their present subjunctive by taking the third-person plural stem of the present indicative and adding standard endings, several important verbs are irregular and must be memorised. Below is a list of the main irregular verbs in the present subjunctive, each conjugated fully. être (to be) Note that when there is…

  • Future simple phrases

    ByFast French

    The Future Simple tense in French (“le futur simple”) is the equivalent of the English future tense that uses the words “will” or “won’t.” Eg “I will go to the park; They won’t go to the shop.” The Future Simple is used less frequently than the English equivalent, because it is acceptable to use the…

  • date

    ByFast French

    To talk about the date in French, you need to know numbers, the days of the week, the months of the year, plus a few other terms. Days of the week The french week starts on Monday. Days are not capitalised unless they start a sentence. To say “every Monday” or “on Mondays,” use le….