dormirvsdormirseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“dormir” and “dormirse” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,212
“dormir” frequency rank
#32,626
“dormirse” frequency rank
33838
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dormir dormirse
Definition Permanecer en un estado de reposo del cuerpo sin que se presenten movimientos físicos voluntarios y con un estado de consciencia reducido. Dormir (uso pronominal de ...)

Where the eye mixes dormir and dormirse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dormir runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against dormirse's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
dormir
8 ch
dormirse

Look-alike desk: dormir vs dormirse

A purely visual mix-up. dormir ([d̪oɾˈmiɾ]) and dormirse ([d̪oɾˈmiɾse]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dormir” sits inside “dormirse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33838, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dormir is recorded at frequency rank #1,212, classified as averb, pronounced [d̪oɾˈmiɾ]. dormirse is at rank #32,626, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪oɾˈmiɾse].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 33838, this pair ranks #194,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dormir vs dormirse

Shared letters: dimor. Private to "dormir": -. Private to "dormirse": es.

"dormir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "dormirse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dormir ← ddormir · domrir · dorimr · dormirr · dormmir · dormri · dorrmir · dromir
  • dormirse ← ddormirse · domrirse · dorimrse · dormirce · dormires · dormirrse · dormirsse · dormisre

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dormir" and "dormirse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([d̪oɾˈmiɾ] versus [d̪oɾˈmiɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "dormir" or "dormirse" show up more?
"dormir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,212 in our Spanish list, against #32,626 for "dormirse". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "dormir" and "dormirse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dormir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dormirse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dormir" and "dormirse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dormirse vs dormiste". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #194,639 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list