How to Say "Slept" in Japanese

眠った

nemutta

In Japanese, the phrase for 'slept' is 眠った (nemutta).

眠った is used to describe the past tense of sleeping, specifically the state of resting with closed eyes.

Which one should you use?

While 眠った (nemutta) focuses on the physiological state of sleeping, 寝た (neta) is more commonly used to mean the act of going to bed or lying down.

nemutta

In Japanese culture, the act of falling asleep while sitting upright is called 居眠り (inemuri), and it is often viewed as a sign of hard work rather than laziness in professional settings.
To describe a 'deep sleep' using 眠った, Japanese speakers often use the word 熟睡, which literally translates to 'ripened sleep'.
In Japanese, you might hear the phrase 眠りにつく (nemuri ni tsuku) to describe the exact moment one 'falls asleep', which literally translates to 'to arrive at sleep'.

彼は一日中眠った。
He slept all day.
This sentence is useful for describing someone sleeping for a duration of time using 眠った.
Tatoeba #109880 by bunbuku, translation #293809 by CK
私は9時間眠った。
I slept nine hours.
This sentence is useful for expressing the amount of time one spent sleeping using 眠った.
Tatoeba #161882 by tommy_san, translation #252634 by CK
ぐっすり眠ったよ。
I slept like a log.
This sentence is useful for describing a deep sleep using 眠った.
Tatoeba #10142776 by small_snow, translation #2406525 by CK
6 more sentences on Tatoeba

Kenta and Misaki are talking in the morning.

美咲 Misaki

健太くん、よく眠った？
Kenta-kun, yoku nemutta?
Kenta, did you sleep well?
健太 Kenta

うん、久しぶりに深く眠ったよ。
Un, hisashiburi ni fukaku nemutta yo.
Yeah, I slept deeply for the first time in a while.
美咲 Misaki

それはよかったね。
Sore wa yokatta ne.
That's good.
健太 Kenta

美咲ちゃんはどうだった？
Misaki-chan wa dou datta?
How about you, Misaki?

Sources

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