Horatio gave bread to the doves.
For such a short verb, dar sure has a lot of different and varied meanings in Spanish. It is usually translated as "to give", but it can also be used in quite a few other contexts, as you can see in the following examples:
- A Juan le dieron una beca. - Juan was granted a scholarship.
- ¿Me das agua? - Can I have some water?
- Por fin el manzano dio frutos. - The apple tree finally produced apples.
- La profesora Gómez da Cálculo 1. - Professor Gómez teaches Calculus 1.
- Están dando una película muy buena. - They're showing a really good movie.
- Las tormentas me dan miedo. - Storms make me feel scared.
- Esta ventana da a la calle principal. - This window overlooks the main street.
- Nunca dieron con el responsable. - They could never find who was responsible.
- Cierra las cortinas, me da el sol en los ojos. - Close the curtains, the sun is hitting my eyes.
Conjugations
As you might expect from such a versatile and widely used verb, dar is irregular. However, learning it might not be as hard as you expect, since you will find no irregularities in the imperfect, conditional, and future tenses of the indicative mood. You can see this in the following tables and examples.
Present
|
Yo |
doy |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
damos |
|
Tú/Vos |
das |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
dais |
|
Él/Ella/Usted |
da |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
dan |
Examples:
- Los fantasmas no me dan miedo. - I'm not scared of ghosts.
- ¿A qué hora dan la película? - At what time are they showing the movie?
Imperfect
|
Yo |
daba |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
dábamos |
|
Tú/Vos |
dabas |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
dabais |
|
Él/Ella/Usted |
daba |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
daban |
Examples:
- Horacio le daba pan a las palomas. - Horacio gave bread to the doves.
- En mi escuela no daban clases de historia. - They didn't teach history at my school.
Preterite
|
Yo |
di |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
dimos |
|
Tú/Vos |
diste |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
disteis |
|
Él/Ella/Usted |
dio |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
dieron |
Examples:
- Tranquilo, diste lo mejor de ti. - Don't worry, you gave your best.
- Mi tía me dio un regalo. - My aunt gave me a present.
Future
|
Yo |
daré |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
daremos |
|
Tú/Vos |
darás |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
daréis |
|
Él/Ella/Usted |
dará |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
darán |
Examples:
- Te daré una pista. - I'll give you a clue.
- Pague y le darán su pedido. - Pay and they will give you your order.
Conditional
|
Yo |
daría |
Nosotros/Nosotras |
daríamos |
|
Tú/Vos |
darías |
Vosotros/Vosotras |
daríais |
|
Él/Ella/Usted |
daría |
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes |
darían |
Examples:
- Si tuviera agua, te la daría. - If I had water, I would give it to you.
- Nunca pensé que me darías esto. - I never thought you would give this to me.
Learning to conjugate irregular verbs in Spanish can take some time, but, with its many meanings, learning to use dar is certainly worth it. Give it a try!