音読み: シン
訓読み: ねる・ねかす
画数: 13
部首: 宀（うかんむり）
Meaning
Sleep / Lie Down / Rest
- Basic forms
- 寝る — to sleep / base form
- 寝ます — polite / I sleep / masu form
- 寝た — past / slept / ta form
- 寝て — te-form / sleep (and…) / linking or request
- 寝ない — negative / don’t sleep / negative form
- 寝れば — if (I) sleep / conditional
- 寝ろ・寝よ — sleep! / imperative
- Other common forms
- 寝たい — want to sleep / 〜たい form
- 寝られる — can sleep / be slept / potential / passive
- 寝られた — could sleep / was slept (past)
- 寝られない — can’t sleep
- More
- 寝よう — let’s sleep / 〜よう form
- 寝なかった — didn’t sleep / negative past
- 寝ている — sleeping right now / progressive
寝る (ねる) is an ichidan (る-verb). Drop る and add endings like ます, た, て, ない. It’s one of the simplest verbs — used for going to bed or sleeping.
- 寝る — to sleep; to go to bed
- 寝かす — to put to sleep
- 寝室 — bedroom
- 寝具 — bedding
- 寝台 — bed; couch
- 昼寝 — nap
- 寝坊 — oversleeping
寝 shows a person lying under a roof — the radical 宀 — with additional elements suggesting “stretching out” or “resting.” The core idea is lying down in a house, which naturally extends to meanings like sleep, bed, and rest. That’s why compounds like 寝室 (bedroom) and 寝具 (bedding) are so common.
寝 means to lie down, while 起 means to rise up. One marks the start of rest, the other the start of action. Together they frame a natural cycle: going to bed and getting up.
寝具 — bedding; bedclothes.