寝る

neru
verbBeginner
informal

to sleep, to go to bed

夜遅くまで起きていたので、早く寝ることにした。

I stayed up late, so I decided to go to bed early.

赤ちゃんはもう寝た。

The baby has already gone to sleep.

💡

Often used to describe the action of going to sleep or lying down to rest.

informal

to lie down (without necessarily sleeping)

疲れたので、ソファで少し寝る。

I'm tired, so I'll lie down on the sofa for a bit.

💡

Can imply resting or taking a nap.

Collocations

寝る時間bedtime寝る前にbefore going to bed寝る準備preparations for bed

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related Phrases

寝坊するphrase
to oversleep
寝言を言うphrase
to talk in one's sleep

💡Pro Tip

Common Mistake

Avoid using '寝る' with objects. For example, '子供を寝る' is incorrect; use '子供を寝かせる' instead.

Gold Rule

Politeness

In formal contexts, use '寝ます' (the polite form) instead of '寝る'.

📖Word Origin

From Old Japanese 'neru', meaning 'to lie down' or 'to sleep'. The kanji '寝' (ne) is a phonetic component.

📝Usage Notes

The verb '寝る' is intransitive and does not take a direct object. For transitive actions related to sleep, use '寝かせる' (to put to bed).

Word Breakdown

sleep, lie down
root
+
verb ending (intransitive)
suffix
和英辞典