How are the verbs "soñar" and "ensoñar" different?

Question

If I am talking about the process of dreaming is it more correct to say, "el proceso de ensoñar"?

please forgive me. I'm new to this site and put my comment in the wrong place. After I read MacFadden and Gekkosan, I had an idea and looked it up in Google Translate: "soñar" is "to dream" and "ensoñar" is "to daydream". - Ragness, May 23, 2015

So, to answer your question, the correct translation would be «el proceso de soñar». ¡Divertirse aprendiendo! 8) - Ragness, May 23, 2015

Don't trust Google. Gekkosan is also a native speaker. - rac1, May 25, 2015

Answer 1

"Ensoñar¨ is never used for dreaming as in the images you see when you're asleep. It refers to the kind of dreaming associated with fantasy, imagination and woolgathering.

"Soñar" is the word for the regular dreaming when one is asleep.

So, R A E is wrong? Frankly, your answers make more sense to me than R A E most of the time. - KevinB, Aug 6, 2010

Answer 2

I gathered from a few Google searches that ensoñar describes a state of not being entirely asleep but not being entirely awake. And soñar just means to dream. You may be interested in the following link. Someone has addressed a similar topic and received an answer that was satisfactory to him or her here.

But then I looked in the DRAE and found that there ensoñar was defined as "tener ensueños" and ensueño was defined as:

(Del lat. insomn?um).

1. m. Sueño o representación fantástica de quien duerme.

2. m. Ilusión, fantasía.

Which sounds just like dreaming. Sorry.

Then I did another search and found that Wikipedia said "Ensueño es la palabra específica que describe el proceso de soñar." Hrm. Well, none of this seems very conclusive, but I woudl say that "El proceso de soñar" seems the better option to me, if only because of the confusion and, according to the Wikipedia thing, it might be redundant ("the process of the process of dreaming.")

Drat. I need to type faster. - KevinB, Aug 6, 2010

Guess I'm just speedy. :) - MacFadden, Aug 6, 2010

Answer 3

dream (drm) n.

1. A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.
2. A daydream; a reverie.

3. A state of abstraction; a trance.

   4. A wild fancy or hope. nothing to do with sleeping

4. A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration: a dream of owning their own business.
5. One that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful: Our new car runs like a dream.

v. dreamed or dreamt (drmt), dream·ing, dreams

v.intr.

1. To experience a dream in sleep: dreamed of meeting an old friend.
2. To daydream.
3. To have a deep aspiration: dreaming of a world at peace.
4. To regard something as feasible or practical: I wouldn't dream of trick skiing on icy slopes.

v.tr. 1. To experience a dream of while asleep: Did it storm last night, or did I dream it? 2. To conceive of; imagine. 3. To pass (time) idly or in reverie. 4. List item

Phrasal Verbs:

dream on Informal

Used in the imperative to indicate that a statement or suggestion is improbable or unrealistic. dream up To invent; concoct: dreamed up a plan to corner the market.

[Middle English drem, from Old English dram, joy, music; akin to Old Saxon drm, mirth, dream.]

According to Google Translate, "sueño" is translated "dream" and "ensueño" is translated "daydream". After reading your answers I suspected this and looked it up. ¡Happy learning! 8) - Ragness, May 23, 2015

Answer 4

The RAE says:

ensoñar - tener ensueños

ensueño - sueño

sueño - Acto de representarse en la fantasía de alguien, mientras duerme, sucesos o imágenes

soñar - Representarse en la fantasía imágenes o sucesos mientras se duerme

It sure sounds the same to me.

Your RAE definitons all seem to link to dreaming while asleep. I think that Spanish allows you to dream while awake (like English) so your defiinitions don't appar to be complete to me. - 0074b507, Aug 7, 2010

Tengo el ensueno de conseguir un yacht. - 0074b507, Aug 7, 2010

Just like English, as you say. Frankly, I've never heard the word ensoñar used in person. Soñar seems to cover both cases wherever I've been. - KevinB, Aug 7, 2010

I've never seen it either so I have no idea when you use one over the other. - 0074b507, Aug 7, 2010