# French: Verb "To Sleep"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548 "2011-08-29T21:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/1 "2011-08-29T21:59:49Z")
Why do two verbs mean “to sleep”: coucher and dormir? What’s the difference? Does it switch for different verb usages, like past-perfect and future-conditional and all that good stuff? Or, are they synonmys? Or, does one have a different connotation than the other? Being the French student par excellence, NOT! I can only advise: One should best experience French as a dressing! 😉 LoL! ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/2 "2011-08-29T22:11:34Z")
I read Coucher in the sense of to go to bed, usually in order to sleep. Dormir is the state of sleeping or being asleep. ---
**Author:** ![minionkat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@minionkat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minionkat)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/3 "2011-08-29T22:14:31Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > I read Coucher in the sense of to go to bed, usually in order to sleep. Dormir is the state of sleeping or being asleep. I came in to say this. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/4 "2011-08-29T22:18:52Z")
Which is why “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” is a sexy question, while “Voulez-vous dormir avec moi ce soir?” is not. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/5 "2011-08-29T22:19:26Z")
Speed bumps in some French-speaking countries are called _le gendarme couche_, which I think is an excellent descriptive. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/6 "2011-08-29T22:23:01Z")
coucher= to lie (down) dormir= to sleep Simple as that. You can be _couché_ and not sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/7 "2011-08-29T22:37:47Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Which is why “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” is a sexy question, while “Voulez-vous dormir avec moi ce soir?” is not. It’s said in the formal second person, with _vous_. Implying that the speaker and the invitee are strangers or on different levels of status. (Contrasted with inviting a close acquaintance to go to bed with you, when you’d use the informal _veux-tu_.) So it fits the prostitution theme. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/8 "2011-08-29T22:50:45Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It’s said in the formal second person, with _vous_. Implying that the speaker and the invitee are strangers or on different levels of status. (Contrasted with inviting a close acquaintance to go to bed with you, when you’d use the informal _veux-tu_.) So it fits the prostitution theme. Hm, didnt know that prostitution was the theme of the song but most prostitutes would call their clients by using _tu_ and not _vous_. \*Voulez vous coucher avec moi ?\*sounds more like casual sex offered to a total stranger, but not prostitution IMO. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Lurker\_Above](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Lurker\_Above](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Lurker_Above)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/9 "2011-08-29T22:54:27Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > \*Voulez vous coucher avec moi ?\*sounds more like casual sex offered to a total stranger, but not prostitution IMO. Or a request for a three(or more)some? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/10 "2011-08-29T23:24:22Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Hm, didnt know that prostitution was the theme of the song but most prostitutes would call their clients by using _tu_ and not _vous_. > \*Voulez vous coucher avec moi ?\*sounds more like casual sex offered to a total stranger, but not prostitution IMO. This is in New Orleans, not France. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/11 "2011-08-29T23:28:34Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > coucher= to lie (down) > dormir= to sleep > > Simple as that. You can be _couché_ and not sleep. And, of course, this is probably where our word ‘couch’ came from… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/12 "2011-08-29T23:29:25Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Hm, didnt know that prostitution was the theme of the song but most prostitutes would call their clients by using _tu_ and not _vous_. He met Marmalade down on old Moulin Rouge strutting her stuff on the street. She said “Hello, Hey Joe! Wanna give it a go?” Gitchy-gitchy yaya dada (Get your yayas, daddy!) Gitchy-gitchy yaya here (Get your yayas here) Mocha choca latta yaya (latte-coffee-colored yayas (Marmalade’s Creole, as the next line says)) Creole Lady Marmalade. She’s practically carnival-barkering her “assets”…this ain’t no casual pickup. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/13 "2011-08-30T02:59:52Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Why do two verbs mean “to sleep”: coucher and dormir? What’s the difference? Slight technicalities (the best kind of technicalities): 1. _Coucher_ means to place something down lengthwise. 2. _Se coucher_ means to go to bed. Or to move your self from a vertical position to a horizontal one. You don’t technically have to sleep after having done so, but this is the common meaning. If you’re just relaxing in front of the television, you would use _s’allonger_. 3. Hi, Opal! 4. _Coucher avec_ is a slang term, meaning to sleep with. Using _vous_ in any context this word is appropriate is somewhat comical. 5. _Dormir_ is to sleep, the actual biological phenomenon where you lose consciousness and so on. 6. _S’endormir_ is to fall asleep. Also, metaphorically, to die. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/14 "2011-08-30T06:46:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Speed bumps in some French-speaking countries are called _le gendarme couche_, which I think is an excellent descriptive. They’re called “sleeping policemen” in Britain, too. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/15 "2011-08-30T06:51:53Z")
It’s like those French people have a word for _everything_! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/16 "2011-08-30T07:28:09Z")
Yeah, and it’s like they have a word that’s different from the word that we use. It’s like they speak a different language or something. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/17 "2011-08-30T12:18:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > He met Marmalade down on old Moulin Rouge > strutting her stuff on the street. > … > > She’s practically carnival-barkering her “assets”…this ain’t no casual pickup. So if the right translation to English is “Any of ya’ll want a piece of this?”, then _vous_ might be appropriate. And, if the OP still has trouble, remember you’re asking Frère Jacques ‘_Dormez-vous_?’. Which means _dormir_ is the one that means unconscious, as you wouldn’t need to ask someone if they’re lying down. (And of course, as Brother Jack is a monk, he’s clearly not going to _coucher avec_ anyone. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/18 "2011-08-30T13:42:33Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It’s said in the formal second person, with _vous_. Implying that the speaker and the invitee are strangers or on different levels of status. (Contrasted with inviting a close acquaintance to go to bed with you, when you’d use the informal _veux-tu_.) So it fits the prostitution theme. Nitpick – “vous” doesn’t necessarily indicate a difference in status, but social distance versus familiarity. You call a person you don’t know “vous” not because you or they are socially superior, but because you don’t know one another well enough for that kind of familiar language. (Interestingly, although Quebecers appear to use “tu” more readily than in France – I frequently get tutoied by store clerks and so forth – our _advertisements_ seem to me to use “vous” more than they do in France.) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/19 "2011-08-30T14:05:24Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Nitpick – “vous” doesn’t necessarily indicate a difference in status, but social distance versus familiarity. You call a person you don’t know “vous” not because you or they are socially superior, but because you don’t know one another well enough for that kind of familiar language. That’s true now, with all the social leveling of the 20th century… but in the old days, when society was more stratified? Vous was used by servants toward masters, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548/20 "2011-08-30T14:12:29Z")
Although it may not be quite to the point in this case, I think it might be worth pointing out to the OP that there is nothing at all odd about a language containing synonyms. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-verb-to-sleep/594548.md?page=2)