寝る expresses going to bed and sleeping. The examples use polite everyday Japanese.

The idea

寝る is an ichidan verb. 寝ます is polite non-past, 寝ません negative, 寝ました past and 寝て the て-form. に marks a specific time, as in 十時に. In these uses the verb is intransitive.

Patterns to compare
Dictionary formPolite non-pastPolite negativePolite pastて-formPlain negative
寝ねる寝ねます寝ねません寝ねました寝ねて寝ねない

Examples

  • 毎晩まいばん、十時じゅうじに寝ねます。I go to bed at ten every night.
  • 今夜こんやは早はやく寝ねます。I will go to bed early tonight.
  • 昨日きのうは十一時じゅういちじに寝ねました。Yesterday I went to bed at eleven.
  • 今日きょうはまだ寝ねません。I am not going to bed yet today.
  • 子こどもはもう寝ねています。The child is already asleep.
  • 本ほんを読よんで、寝ねます。I read a book and go to bed.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

寝ます can mean going to bed; 寝ています describes the state of being asleep. 起きる describes getting up.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the particle in brackets. 十時じゅうじ＿寝ねます。（に／を）

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    に

    に is correct. に marks a specific time, as in 十時に.

  2. Complete the ending to make the verb’s て-form. もう寝ね＿ください。（寝ねる→て）

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    て

    て completes 寝て. 寝て is the て-form of 寝る; it joins actions or precedes ください in a request.

  3. Complete the ending to make the polite past. 昨日きのう、十一時じゅういちじに寝ね＿。（寝ねる→ました）

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    ました

    ました completes 寝ました. 寝ました is the polite past of 寝る; 昨日 places the event yesterday.

Use it today

Adapt an example with 寝る to your own life, then put it into the polite past. Check the particle and verb form.