Dar conjugation: main tenses of "to give" in Spanish
Dar means "to give". Irregular -ar verb (yo doy). Present tense: doy, das, da, damos, dais, dan. Preterite: di, diste, dio… The past participle is dado and the gerund is dando.
Infinitive
dar
Pronunciation
dahr
IPA
/ˈdaɾ/
Meaning
to give
Type
Irregular -ar verb (yo doy)
Gerund
dando
Past participle
dado
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. Highlighted forms differ from the regular pattern. Tap any form to hear it.
Dar in the indicative
PresentePresent
what happens now or usually
yo
doy (irregular)
tú
das
él / ella / usted
da
nosotros
damos
vosotros
dais (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
dan
Pretérito indefinidoPreterite
a finished action in the past
yo
di (irregular)
tú
diste (irregular)
él / ella / usted
dio (irregular)
nosotros
dimos (irregular)
vosotros
disteis (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
dieron (irregular)
Pretérito imperfectoImperfect
an ongoing or repeated action in the past
yo
daba
tú
dabas
él / ella / usted
daba
nosotros
dábamos
vosotros
dabais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
daban
Futuro simpleFuture
what will happen
yo
daré
tú
darás
él / ella / usted
dará
nosotros
daremos
vosotros
daréis
ellos / ellas / ustedes
darán
Condicional simpleConditional
what would happen
yo
daría
tú
darías
él / ella / usted
daría
nosotros
daríamos
vosotros
daríais
ellos / ellas / ustedes
darían
Pretérito perfectoPresent perfect
haber + past participle: what has happened
yo
he dado
tú
has dado
él / ella / usted
ha dado
nosotros
hemos dado
vosotros
habéis dado
ellos / ellas / ustedes
han dado
Compound tenses of dar
The helper verb is conjugated while dar stays in one form: the participle dado, the gerund dando or the infinitive.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto Past perfect
había dado, habías dado, había dado, habíamos dado, habíais dado, habían dado
voy a dar, vas a dar, va a dar, vamos a dar, vais a dar, van a dar
Presente continuo (estar + gerundio) Present continuous
estoy dando, estás dando, está dando, estamos dando, estáis dando, están dando
Dar in the subjunctive
Presente de subjuntivoPresent subjunctive
after quiero que, espero que, cuando
yo
dé (irregular)
tú
des
él / ella / usted
dé (irregular)
nosotros
demos
vosotros
deis (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
den
Imperfecto de subjuntivoImperfect subjunctive
after si and quería que
yo
diera (irregular)
tú
dieras (irregular)
él / ella / usted
diera (irregular)
nosotros
diéramos (irregular)
vosotros
dierais (irregular)
ellos / ellas / ustedes
dieran (irregular)
The imperfect subjunctive has a second, equally correct set of forms in -se; swap -ra for -se: diera → diese.
Dar in the imperative
Imperativoaffirmative
telling someone to do it
tú
da
usted
dé
nosotros
demos
vosotros
dad
ustedes
den
Imperativo negativonegative
telling someone not to: no + the subjunctive
tú
no des
usted
no dé
nosotros
no demos
vosotros
no deis
ustedes
no den
What is irregular about dar
In the present only yo is irregular: doy; vosotros dais has no accent because it is one syllable. The preterite takes the endings of -er/-ir verbs, without accents: di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron. In the present subjunctive dé carries an accent to tell it from the preposition de: dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den. The imperfect (daba), future (daré) and conditional (daría) are regular.
Do not confuse: one form, two verbs
di — also decir: di here is yo, preterite; for decir it is tú, imperative.
Common mistakes with dar
dí, dió→di, dio
Di and dio are one syllable, and verb forms like these carry no written accent: compare vi, vio and fui, fue.
Ayer le dé las llaves.→Ayer le di las llaves.
Dar is an -ar verb, but its preterite uses the -er/-ir endings. Dé is the present subjunctive, not "I gave".
Quiero que me de tiempo.→Quiero que me dé tiempo.
The subjunctive dé takes an accent to tell it from the preposition de. The other forms need none: des, den.
When to use dar
Dar turns up in many set phrases where English uses a different verb: dar un paseo (go for a walk), dar las gracias (say thank you), me da miedo (it scares me), me da igual (I don't mind), darse cuenta (realise).
Dar in sentences
Te doy mi número. I'll give you my number.
Mi hermana me dio este libro. My sister gave me this book.
Mi abuelo siempre nos daba caramelos. My grandfather always gave us sweets.
Te daré una respuesta mañana. I'll give you an answer tomorrow.
Quiero que me des tu opinión. I want you to give me your opinion.
How to remember dar
dar[dahr] sounds like the English “dart”. Picture this:
You give like throwing darts: presents fly across the room straight into open hands.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method: the sound pulls the meaning along. How it works.
Practice the dar conjugation
Practice dar
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FAQ
Is dar a regular or irregular verb?
Irregular -ar verb (yo doy). In the tables on this page, 18 forms differ from the regular pattern; they are highlighted.
What is the past tense of dar?
Preterite (a finished action): di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron. Imperfect (an ongoing or repeated action): daba, dabas, daba, dábamos, dabais, daban.
What are the past participle and gerund of dar?
The past participle is dado; it builds the compound tenses, for example he dado, había dado. The gerund is dando.
Tables: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and UniMorph, CC BY-SA 3.0, cross-checked on September 30, 2026. Notes on mistakes and the examples were written with the help of our model (AI); every form in the examples is matched against the chart, and the text was proofread separately. How we make it.