The oral and nasal contributions to inhaled ventilation were simultaneously quantified during sleep in 10 healthy subjects (5 men, 5 women) aged 43 ± 5 yr, with normal nasal resistance (mean 2.0 ± 0.3 cmH2O · l−1 · s−1) by use of a divided oral and nasal mask. Minute ventilation awake (5.9 ± 0.3 l/min) was higher than that during sleep (5.2 ± 0.3 l/min; P < 0.0001), but there was no significant difference in minute ventilation between different sleep stages ( P = 0.44): stage 2 5.3 ± 0.3, slow-wave 5.2 ± 0.2, and rapid-eye-movement sleep 5.2 ± 0.2 l/min. The oral fraction of inhaled ventilation during wakefulness (7.6 ± 4%) was not significantly different from that during sleep (4.3 ± 2%; mean difference 3.3%, 95% confidence interval −2.1–8.8%, P = 0.19), and no significant difference ( P = 0.14) in oral fraction was observed between different sleep stages: stage two 5.1 ± 2.8, slow-wave 4.2 ± 1.8, rapid-eye-movement 3.1 ± 1.7%. Thus the inhaled oral fraction in normal subjects is small and does not change significantly with sleep stage.