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The Spanish verb Dar means “to give”. Let’s practice the present tense and unconjugated forms (dar, dado, and dando).
Te voy a dar esto.
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Today we’re going to learn the verb Dar, which is the Spanish verb for “to give”. Here’s a simple sentence example:
I’m going to give you this.
Te voy a dar esto.
This verb takes both direct and indirect objects, just like Decir does. So compare these two sentence examples:
I’m going to tell you it.
Te lo voy a decir.
I’m going to give you it.
Te lo voy a dar.
The participle of Dar is dado, and the gerund is dando. For example:
I have given him something.
Le he dado algo.
I am giving her something.
Le estoy dando algo.
I am giving you something.
Te estoy dando algo.
Let’s practice using dar, dado, and dando.
I have given them everything.
Les he dado todo.
You have to give me that afterwards.
Me tienes que dar eso después.
You’re giving me trouble.
Me estás dando problemas.
You have to give him the case.
Le tienes que dar el caso.
That isn’t what I have given you.
Eso no es lo que te he dado.
Now let’s start conjugating this verb in the present tense so that we can say things like “I give” and “he gives”. The word for “I give” is doy, kind of like soy, voy, and estoy. For example:
Sometimes I give her that.
A veces le doy eso.
And then the word for “he/she/usted gives” is simply da. For example:
Sometimes he gives me that.
A veces me da eso.
Now let’s practice an idiom using these words. As we learned in episode 84, in Spanish to talk about “taking a walk”, you actually talk about “giving a turn”. For example:
Sometimes I take a walk around here.
A veces doy una vuelta por aquí.
Let’s practice using doy and da.
I take a walk every morning.
Doy una vuelta todas las mañanas.
Did you want this? No? Then I’m giving it to them.
¿Querías esto? ¿No? Entonces se lo doy a ellos.
Today she’s going to take a walk.
Hoy ella va a dar una vuelta.
He always gives her food, but you (formal) never give it to my friend.
Él siempre le da esas cosas, pero usted nunca se las da a mi amigo.
The rest of the present-tense conjugations are based on da. So we have das, dan, and damos. For example:
Do you give him those things?
¿Le das esas cosas?
When we give it to them, they give it to us.
Cuando se lo damos, ellos nos lo dan.
Let’s practice these.
You’re giving it to her.
Se lo das.
We always give it to them after school.
Siempre se lo damos después de la escuela.
We take a walk with our friends.
Damos una vuelta con nuestros amigos.
You always give something to your parents.
Siempre les das algo a tus padres.
They are giving it to my brother while they go for a walk.
Se lo dan a mi hermano mientras dan una vuelta.
We’ll get a lot more practice with these on our final quiz in a minute, but first let’s learn one more idiom. In Spanish, a common way to say “it’s all the same to me” is me da lo mismo, literally “it gives me the same”. For example:
They can do whatever they want, it’s all the same to me.
Pueden hacer lo que quieran, me da lo mismo.
And this can be conjugated for other people as well, using an indirect object. For example:
It’s all the same to them.
Les da lo mismo.
Let’s get a bunch more practice with Dar using today’s final quiz. (And remember that to see these as flashcards, you can access the free online flashcards here!)
I’m giving him this today.
Le doy esto hoy.
You have to give them that anew.
Les tienes que dar eso de nuevo.
Sometimes they give us some things.
A veces nos dan unas cosas.
You don’t have to give it to me, it’s all the same to me.
No me lo tienes que dar, me da lo mismo.
You have to give him the thing before the party.
Le tienes que dar la cosa antes de la fiesta.
We never give them anything, but you do give them something.
Nunca les damos nada, pero tú sí les das algo.
She is present again, so we can take a walk.
Está de vuelta, así que podemos dar una vuelta.
If you give me what she has given you, I’ll tell you the path.
Si me das lo que ella te ha dado, te diré el camino.
You still aren’t taking a walk.
Todavía no das una vuelta.
We’re taking a walk without your help.
Damos una vuelta sin tu ayuda.
You always give everything you have, but they don’t give anything.
Siempre das todo lo que tienes, pero ellos no dan nada.
You haven’t yet given me the answer to my question.
Aún no me has dado the answer a mi pregunta.
Aún no me has dado la respuesta a mi pregunta.
You don’t give me the same that she gives me.
No me das lo mismo que ella me da.
Before her return, you have to give me that.
Antes de su vuelta, tienes que darme eso.
You have to pay attention to him because he is giving you good advice.
Tienes que hacerle caso porque te está dando good advice.
Tienes que hacerle caso porque te está dando buenos consejos.
They don’t give as much money as he gives.
No dan as much money como él da.
No dan tanto dinero como él da.
By then, he will have given it to her.
Para entonces, se lo habrá dado.
Yesterday, they were giving candies on the street.
Ayer estaban dando candies en the street.
Ayer estaban dando dulces en la calle.
I’m giving you an opportunity, so don’t arrive late.
Te doy una oportunidad, entonces no arrive tarde.
Te doy una oportunidad, entonces no llegues tarde.
We can do it in this manner, it’s all the same to me.
Podemos hacerlo de esta manera, me da lo mismo.
Tomorrow he’s going to give it to someone else.
Mañana se lo va a dar a alguien más.
If he gives it to her later, it’s all the same to me.
Si se lo da luego, me da lo mismo.
To get more practice with these sentences, join the free course here and quiz yourself with them until you’re acing this.
In tomorrow’s episode, we’ll learn the rest of the essential conjugations of Dar.
This show is brought to you by LearnCraftSpanish.com. Our music was provided by the Seattle Marimba Quartet, and I’m Timothy, encouraging you to do the hard work of learning Spanish. Acquiring a second language is one of the most fulfilling things you can do, so start your fluency journey today using our free course — join here.
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