Expressions with "Dar"

Quick Answer

The Spanish verb daris translated most often as to give. On the surface it seems like a pretty basic verb, but there is much more to it when you take a closer look.

Conjugation

Dar is an irregular verb in many forms and tenses. Click here to review its conjugations.

Dar: A Very Generous Verb

Dar is used in a literal way to express the idea of giving something tangible.

Take a look at the following examples.

examples
Le di a mi hermanita un osito de peluche cuando estaba enferma. I gave my little sister a teddy bear when she was sick.
Ya he gastado todo el dinero que me dieron mis padres por mi cumpleaños. I’ve already spent all the money my parents gave me for my birthday.

In the sense of giving gifts, the verb regalaris also often used.

Imperative Mode of the Verb Dar

Dar is often used in the imperative mood in the sense of to hand it over. This is when direct and indirect object pronouns come in handy. You often see direct and indirect object pronouns attached to the command form of dar.

Check out these examples.

examples
Dame tu tarjeta de crédito. Give me your credit card.
Sé que tienes mi celular. Dámelo ahora mismo. I know you have my phone. Give it to me right now.

Can I Have…?

Imagine you are at a butcher shop and you want to ask for a half kilo of ground beef. If you translate Can I have a kilo of ground beef? word for word, you will not sound like a native Spanish speaker. To sound more like a local, use the verb dar!

Let’s put this into practice!

examples
¿Me das una mordida? Can I have a bite?
¿Me da dos kilos de tomates? Can I have two kilos of tomatoes?

Dar Miedo and Other Dar Expressions that Work Like Gustar

There are many expressions that use the verb dar that function like the verb gustar. With dar miedo(to scare), the subject of the sentence is the thing that scares the speaker, while the person who is scared by it is expressed via an indirect object.

When using dar miedo and similar expressions, dar is always conjugated in the third person singular or third person plural to agree with the subject of the sentence.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

examples
Me da miedo el amor. Love scares me.
No contrates payasos para la fiesta; me dan miedo. Don’t hire clowns for the party; they scare me.

Here is a list of more dar expressions that function like the verb gustar.

Expression in Spanish	Meaning in English
dar asco	to disgust
dar la gana	to want to
dar igual	to not matter
dar lo mismo	to be all the same to
dar lata	to bother
dar pena	to feel sorry (about)
dar vergüenza	to find embarrassing

Pronominal Uses of Dar

The pronominal form darse is used in a variety of expressions.

Dársele a Alguien Bien

To say that someone is good at something, we use the expression dársele bien. To say that someone is bad at something, you can use dársele mal or dársele fatal. These expressions work almost exactly like the verb gustar, except we add sein front of the indirect object pronoun.

Unlike the other darse expressions listed below, the se does not change to me, te, etc.

Take a look at some examples.

examples
Se me da bien cocinar. I'm good at cooking.
A Lupita se le dan fatal las mates. Luisa is bad at math.

Other Darse Expressions

Expression in Spanish	Meaning in English
darse por vencido	to give up
darse cuenta	to realize
darse prisa	hurry up

Abstract Uses of Dar

The verb dar can also be used in an abstract or figurative manner when the thing being given is not a tangible object. For example, dar un golpetranslates as to hit, but its literal translation is to give a blow.

Additional Expressions to Master the Verb Dar

The verb dar is used in many other useful expressions.

Expression in Spanish	Meaning in English
dar un paseo	to take a walk
dar de comer	to feed
dar las gracias	to thank/say thanks
dar a luz	to give birth
dar una paliza	to give a beating
dar una mano	to lend a hand
dar la mano a	to shake hands with
dar por sentado	to take for granted
dar a conocer	to make known
dar a entender	to insinuate
dar lugar a	to cause
dar la espalda	to turn one’s back on
dar gritos	to shout out
dar la hora	to strike the hour
dar gato por liebre	to rip off
dar calabazas	to blow off
dar en el clavo	to hit the nail on the head
dale	go ahead