dormir Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of dormir — sleep — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. dormir is the verb for talking about your night: it comes up whenever you talk about describing a good night of sleep or explaining why you are tired. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for dormir, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “J'ai dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have slept eight hours this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of dormir

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for dormir. dormir is irregular (regular in the passé composé), so watch out for the forms that break the pattern — they are the ones learners need to memorise.

Passé composé — dormir

Person Form
je ai dormi
tu as dormi
il/elle a dormi
nous avons dormi
vous avez dormi
ils/elles ont dormi

The gerund of dormir is en dormant and the past participle is dormi. The participle matters here because the passé composé is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.

How the passé composé of dormir is formed

The passé composé of dormir is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle dormi. The six forms are ai dormi, as dormi, a dormi, avons dormi, avez dormi and ont dormi. The auxiliary is avoir for this verb — do not swap it for the other auxiliary.

Because dormir uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle dormi is the same in the table for every person. In real sentences the participle can agree in gender and number with the subject when the auxiliary is être, or with a preceding direct object — that agreement is a sentence-level rule, and the base form in the table stays dormi.

The passé composé is the everyday spoken past tense in French. Learn these six forms as a set: once you can say ai dormi without thinking, you can talk about anything you did yesterday.

When to use the passé composé of dormir

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have slept eight hours this week.”

A sequence of actions

Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous avons dormi dans ma chambre cette semaine.” — “We have slept in my bedroom this week.”

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a dormi tôt cette semaine.” — “He has slept early this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai dormi bien cette semaine.” — “I have slept well this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: dormir finished, dormir in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with dormir. The passé composé is for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé; the imperfect is for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. Compare the pairs below — the passé composé form comes from this page, the imperfect form from the full conjugation table.

  • Passé composé: “J'ai dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have slept eight hours this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je dormais huit heures avant.” — “I used to sleep eight hours before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a dormi dans ma chambre cette semaine.” — “He has slept in my bedroom this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il dormait dans ma chambre avant.” — “He used to sleep in my bedroom before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons dormi tôt cette semaine.” — “We have slept early this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous dormions tôt avant.” — “We used to sleep early before.”

Example sentences: dormir in the passé composé

Six sentences using only the passé composé of dormir, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “J'ai dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have slept eight hours this week.”
  • “Tu as dormi dans ma chambre cette semaine.” — “You have slept in my bedroom this week.”
  • “Il a dormi tôt cette semaine.” — “He has slept early this week.”
  • “Nous avons dormi bien cette semaine.” — “We have slept well this week.”
  • “Vous avez dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “You have slept eight hours this week.”
  • “Ils ont dormi dans ma chambre cette semaine.” — “They have slept in my bedroom this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of dormir

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons dormi huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Je ai dormi huit heures.”

avons dormi is the nous form. With je the passé composé form is ai dormi.

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je dors dans ma chambre.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai dormi dans ma chambre.”

The present dors describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai dormi.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je dormi tôt hier.”

✓ Right: “J'ai dormi tôt hier.”

The passé composé needs its auxiliary: ai dormi is avoir + dormi. The participle alone is not a finished sentence.

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai dormi bien tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je dormais bien tous les jours.”

For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect dormais.

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai dormi huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Tu as dormi huit heures.”

With tu the passé composé form is as dormi, not ai dormi. Copy the form for the right person from the table.

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of dormir

Ten questions on dormir. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) avons dormi
    • B) ai dormi
    • C) as dormi
    • D) ont dormi

  2. What is the tu form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) avez dormi
    • B) ai dormi
    • C) as dormi
    • D) ont dormi

  3. What is the il/elle form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) a dormi
    • B) avons dormi
    • C) ai dormi
    • D) ont dormi

  4. What is the nous form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) ai dormi
    • B) ont dormi
    • C) a dormi
    • D) avons dormi

  5. What is the vous form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) a dormi
    • B) as dormi
    • C) ai dormi
    • D) avez dormi

  6. What is the ils/elles form of dormir in the Present perfect?

    • A) ont dormi
    • B) a dormi
    • C) avez dormi
    • D) as dormi

  7. What is the je form of dormir in the Present indicative?

    • A) dormons
    • B) dormez
    • C) dort
    • D) dors

  8. What is the gerund of dormir?

    • A) ouvrant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of dormir?

    • A) dormi
    • B) ouvert
    • C) bu

  10. What does dormir mean in English?

  • A) close
  • B) drink
  • C) sleep
  • D) open

Answer key

  1. B) ai dormi — The je form of dormir in the present perfect is ai dormi.
  2. C) as dormi — The tu form of dormir in the present perfect is as dormi.
  3. A) a dormi — The il/elle form of dormir in the present perfect is a dormi.
  4. D) avons dormi — The nous form of dormir in the present perfect is avons dormi.
  5. D) avez dormi — The vous form of dormir in the present perfect is avez dormi.
  6. A) ont dormi — The ils/elles form of dormir in the present perfect is ont dormi.
  7. D) dors — The je form of dormir in the present indicative is dors.
  8. C) dormant — The gerund of dormir is en dormant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. A) dormi — The past participle of dormir is dormi; perfect tenses use avoir + dormi.
  10. C) sleep — dormir means “sleep” in English.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of dormir?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For dormir that covers talking about your night, describing a good night of sleep and explaining why you are tired.

Is the passé composé of dormir regular?

dormir is irregular. In the passé composé it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.

What is the past participle of dormir?

The past participle is dormi. The passé composé uses it with avoir for the perfect tenses.

How do I say “I sleep” in the passé composé?

Say “J'ai dormi huit heures cette semaine.” — “I have slept eight hours this week.” The je form is ai dormi.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dormir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages