How do you say it in Italian?
Vai a dormire!
| Pronunciation | |
| Words you should know | Andare (to go) + a (to) + dormire (to sleep) |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers and groups |
For example, you can say…
| Vai a dormire, Matteo! Domani devi andare a scuola. | Go to sleep, Matteo! You have to go to school tomorrow. |
| Sembri stanco. Vai a dormire e riposati un po’. | You look tired. Go to sleep and get some rest. |
Andate a dormire!
| Pronunciation | |
| When to use this | With a group of people |
| When NOT to use this | With 1 person at a time |
In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There is a singular “you” and then there is a plural “you”. If you’re speaking to a group, you’ll need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly.
For example, you can say…
| È quasi mezzanotte. Andate subito a dormire! | It is almost midnight. Go to sleep right now! |
| Avete viaggiato per ore, sarete stanchi. Andate a dormire, ragazzi. | You have been traveling for hours, you must be tired. Go to sleep, boys. |
Now, how do you say go to sleep in Italian when you need to be polite? Keep on reading to find out!
Vada a dormire!
| Pronunciation | |
| When to use this | With a stranger |
| When NOT to use this | With people you know well |
When speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei. Use Lei in the written form if you want to be very polite.
I would advise you against using this form, however. It can be quite rude and it’s so uncommon it almost sounds wrong to my native ear.
A letto!
For all translations of go to sleep in Italian that we’ve seen in the previous paragraphs, you can swap a dormire with a letto.
| Vai a letto! | Go to sleep! (singular, informal) | |
| Andate a letto! | Go to sleep! (plural) | |
| Vada a letto! | Go to sleep! (polite) |
For example, you can say…
| È tardi, Veronica, vai a letto. Non farmelo ripetere. | It’s late, Veronica, go to bed. Don’t make me tell you again. |
These directly translate go to bed, because il letto is the Italian translation for the bed.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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