Dear Gary: This sentence is not correct in Spanish. The translation of "when I go to sleep, I get scared (of spirits)" is "cuando me voy a dormir, tengo miedo (de los espíritus / maybe it could be better de los fantasmas)". Anyway, it is impossible to say "para poder dormir es que tengo miedo". For example, it is correct "bebo un vaso de leche para poder dormir" ["I drink a glass of milk to sleep"] or "No puedo dormir: es que tengo miedo (de los espíritus)" ["I cannot sleep: is that I have fear (of the spirits)"]. Best, Rafael

Hi :) As Rafael said, this sentence alone doesn't make sense. But it could be the answer to a question like : - ¿Para qué dejas la luz encendida? (Why do you keep the lights on?) - Para poder dormir ¡Es que tengo miedo! (two different sentences). In this case, it would mean "So that I can sleep, I'm scared". Using "Es que" at the beginning you're just introducing what you're about to say, usually giving explanations. It could be omitted and the sentence would be correct anyway. - ¿Qué haces en la cocina a esta hora? - (Es que) tengo hambre. - No llamaste a Carlos por su cumpleaños. - (Es que) últimamente no nos llevamos bien. I hope this helped. Good luck! :)