Dañar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of dañar — “to damage, to harm” in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for dañar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. Dañar means to damage or to harm, and it is used for damaging a car in an accident, harming a company's reputation, damaging the environment and harming health with tobacco. It is a regular -ar verb, common in insurance, news and health language. Dañar is a regular -ar verb, so the notes below explain exactly where it follows the rules and where it breaks them. To see it in a real sentence: Daño el coche en el accidente.

Present tense conjugation table: dañar

Every person of dañar in the present tense. The gerund is dañando and the past participle is dañado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo daño
tú dañas
él/ella/Ud. daña
nosotros/as dañamos
vosotros/as dañáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. dañan

How the present of dañar is formed

The present of dañar is built from the stem dañ- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o daño
tú -as dañas
él/ella/Ud. -a daña
nosotros/as -amos dañamos
vosotros/as -áis dañáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an dañan

For dañar there are no surprises in the present: every form is the stem dañ- plus the regular ending, so once you know the endings you know the whole tense.

When to use the present tense with dañar

Habits and routines

Use the present for things you do regularly.

Yo daño el coche en el accidente. — I damage the car in the accident.

General facts

Use the present for facts and general truths that do not change.

Él/Ella daña la reputación de la empresa. — He damages the company's reputation.

What is happening right now

Use the present for what is happening at this moment.

Ahora, Nosotros/as dañamos el medio ambiente. — Right now, We damage the environment.

Near-future plans

Use the present for fixed plans in the near future, especially with mañana or la semana que viene.

Mañana, Tú dañas la salud con el tabaco. — Tomorrow, You damage health with tobacco.

Instructions and timeless statements

Use the present for instructions, rules and statements that are always true.

Él/Ella daña el coche en el accidente. — He damages the car in the accident.

The present vs the preterite

The present and the preterite answer different questions: the present says what happens regularly or right now, while the preterite says what happened once and finished. Compare the same idea in both tenses with dañar.

  1. Yo daño el coche en el accidente. — I damage the car in the accident. / Ayer, Yo dañé el coche en el accidente. — Yesterday, I damaged the car in the accident.
  2. Yo daño la reputación de la empresa. — I damage the company's reputation. / Ayer, Yo dañé la reputación de la empresa. — Yesterday, I damaged the company's reputation.
  3. Yo daño el medio ambiente. — I damage the environment. / Ayer, Yo dañé el medio ambiente. — Yesterday, I damaged the environment.

Example sentences in the present tense

Seven sentences with dañar in the present tense only, covering all six persons.

  1. Yo daño el coche en el accidente. — I damage the car in the accident.
  2. Tú dañas la reputación de la empresa. — You damage the company's reputation.
  3. Él/Ella daña el medio ambiente. — He damages the environment.
  4. Nosotros/as dañamos la salud con el tabaco. — We damage health with tobacco.
  5. Vosotros/as dañáis el coche en el accidente. — You damage the car in the accident.
  6. Ellos/as dañan la reputación de la empresa. — They damage the company's reputation.
  7. Yo daño el medio ambiente. — I damage the environment.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo daña el coche en el accidente. — Right: Yo daño el coche en el accidente. — The person matters: daña is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is daño.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo daño la reputación de la empresa. — Right: Ayer, yo dañé la reputación de la empresa. — With ayer, use the preterite (dañé), not the present. The present is for habits and for right now.
  3. Wrong: Using dañar where perjudicar belongs. — Right: Dañar means to damage, to harm, while perjudicar means to harm or damage someone. — Check the meaning before you choose: dañar fits Daño el coche en el accidente.
  4. Wrong: Espero que él daña la reputación de la empresa. — Right: Espero que él dañe la reputación de la empresa. — After espero que, Spanish needs the subjunctive: dañe, not the present indicative daña.

Quiz: the present tense of dañar

Eight questions on the present tense of dañar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el coche en el accidente. (present tense, yo) A. daño B. dañas C. daña D. dañamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ la reputación de la empresa. (present tense, tú) A. daño B. daña C. dañamos D. dañas

  3. Complete the sentence: Él/Ella ___ el medio ambiente. (present tense, él/ella/Ud.) A. dañas B. dañamos C. daña D. daño

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros/as ___ la salud con el tabaco. (present tense, nosotros/as) A. daña B. dañamos C. daño D. dañas

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros/as ___ el coche en el accidente. (present tense, vosotros/as) A. dañáis B. daño C. dañas D. daña

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos/as ___ la reputación de la empresa. (present tense, ellos/ellas/Uds.) A. daño B. dañas C. daña D. dañan

  7. Which is the gerund of dañar? A. daño B. dañé C. dañando D. dañado

  8. Which is the past participle of dañar, used with haber in the perfect tenses? A. dañé B. dañado C. dañando D. daño

Answer key

  1. daño — The yo present form of dañar is daño.
  2. dañas — The tú present form of dañar is dañas.
  3. daña — The él/ella/Ud. present form of dañar is daña.
  4. dañamos — The nosotros/as present form of dañar is dañamos.
  5. dañáis — The vosotros/as present form of dañar is dañáis.
  6. dañan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. present form of dañar is dañan.
  7. dañando — The gerund of dañar is dañando: estoy dañando.
  8. dañado — The past participle of dañar is dañado: he dañado, has dañado, ha dañado.

Frequently asked questions

How is the present tense of dañar formed?

Take the infinitive dañar, drop the -ar ending to get the stem dañ-, then add the present endings: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an. The full table is above, with every person. No, the present of dañar is fully regular: the stem dañ- plus the standard -ar endings gives every form.

When do I use the present tense of dañar?

Use the present for habits, facts and what is happening right now. For example: Daño el coche en el accidente.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of dañar?

The present (daño) and the preterite (dañé) answer different questions: the present is for habits and for right now, while the preterite is for one finished action. Compare them in the contrast section above.

How do I practise the present of dañar?

Drill the six forms in the table until you can say them without looking, then use the full conjugation of dañar to see how the present fits with the other tenses, and the dañar examples and quiz page for more sentences. The Spanish Verb Quiz tests the forms under pressure.

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