Dar Conjugation in Spanish
dar means “give” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 10 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for giving presents and help, for saying thanks, and for going for a walk (dar un paseo). Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of dar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre todos los días.” — “I give a present to my mother every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: dar
- English: to give
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, preterite, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: dando
- Past participle: dado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for dar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | doy |
| tú | das |
| él/ella/Ud. | da |
| nosotros/as | damos |
| vosotros/as | dáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | di |
| tú | diste |
| él/ella/Ud. | dio |
| nosotros/as | dimos |
| vosotros/as | disteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | daba |
| tú | dabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | daba |
| nosotros/as | dábamos |
| vosotros/as | dabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | daban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | daré |
| tú | darás |
| él/ella/Ud. | dará |
| nosotros/as | daremos |
| vosotros/as | daréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | darán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | daría |
| tú | darías |
| él/ella/Ud. | daría |
| nosotros/as | daríamos |
| vosotros/as | daríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | darían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he dado |
| tú | has dado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha dado |
| nosotros/as | hemos dado |
| vosotros/as | habéis dado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han dado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había dado |
| tú | habías dado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había dado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos dado |
| vosotros/as | habíais dado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían dado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré dado |
| tú | habrás dado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá dado |
| nosotros/as | habremos dado |
| vosotros/as | habréis dado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán dado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría dado |
| tú | habrías dado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría dado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos dado |
| vosotros/as | habríais dado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían dado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | dé |
| tú | des |
| él/ella/Ud. | dé |
| nosotros/as | demos |
| vosotros/as | deis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | den |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | diera |
| tú | dieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | diera |
| nosotros/as | diéramos |
| vosotros/as | dierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | dieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | da |
| él/ella/Ud. | dé |
| nosotros/as | demos |
| vosotros/as | dad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | den |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | des |
| él/ella/Ud. | dé |
| nosotros/as | demos |
| vosotros/as | deis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | den |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | dando |
| Past participle | dado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre todos los días.” — “I give a present to my mother every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú diste las gracias a todos ayer.” — “You gave thanks to everyone yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él daba un paseo por el parque antes.” — “He used to give a walk in the park before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo daré un regalo a mi madre mañana.” — “I will give a present to my mother tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú darías las gracias a todos algún día.” — “You would give thanks to everyone someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha dado un paseo por el parque esta semana.” — “He has given a walk in the park this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había dado un regalo a mi madre antes de la fiesta.” — “I had given a present to my mother before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás dado las gracias a todos para mañana.” — “You will have given thanks to everyone by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría dado un paseo por el parque ayer.” — “He would have given a walk in the park yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Es importante que yo dé un regalo a mi madre.” — “It is important that i give a present to my mother.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú dieras las gracias a todos.” — “I wish you gave thanks to everyone.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “¡Da un paseo por el parque!” — “Give a walk in the park!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With dar this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “No des un regalo a mi madre.” — “Do not give a present to my mother.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with dar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre todos los días.” — “I give a present to my mother every day.”
- “Tú diste las gracias a todos ayer.” — “You gave thanks to everyone yesterday.”
- “Él daba un paseo por el parque antes.” — “He used to give a walk in the park before.”
- “Yo daré las gracias a todos mañana.” — “I will give thanks to everyone tomorrow.”
- “Tú darías un regalo a mi madre algún día.” — “You would give a present to my mother someday.”
- “Él ha dado un paseo por el parque esta semana.” — “He has given a walk in the park this week.”
- “Yo había dado un regalo a mi madre antes de la fiesta.” — “I had given a present to my mother before the party.”
- “Tú habrás dado las gracias a todos para mañana.” — “You will have given thanks to everyone by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él dé un paseo por el parque.” — “It is important that he give a walk in the park.”
- “¡Da un regalo a mi madre!” — “Give a present to my mother!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo dar un regalo a mi madre.”
✓ Right: “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre.”
The infinitive dar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form doy.
2. Confusing dar with recibir
✗ Wrong: “Yo recibo un regalo a mi madre.”
✓ Right: “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre.”
Dar means to give; recibir means to receive — the direction is opposite.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy dado un regalo a mi madre.”
✓ Right: “Yo he dado un regalo a mi madre.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle dado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “dare”
✓ Right: “daré”
The accent on daré is part of the spelling in the future. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú das un regalo a mi madre.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú des un regalo a mi madre.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use des here, not the indicative das.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo di un regalo a mi madre antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo daba un regalo a mi madre antes.”
The preterite di describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect daba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of dar in the Present indicative?
- A) das
- B) da
- C) damos
- D) doy
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of dar in the Preterite?
- A) diste
- B) dimos
- C) dio
- D) di
What is the nosotros/as form of dar in the Imperfect?
- A) dabais
- B) dábamos
- C) daba
- D) dabas
What is the tú form of dar in the Future?
- A) darás
- B) daré
- C) dará
- D) daremos
What is the yo form of dar in the Conditional?
- A) darías
- B) daríamos
- C) daríais
- D) daría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of dar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) demos
- B) deis
- C) dé
- D) des
What is the yo form of dar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) dierais
- B) diera
- C) dieras
- D) diéramos
What is the gerund of dar?
- A) dando
- B) viendo
- C) sabiendo
- D) queriendo
What is the past participle of dar?
- A) visto
- B) sabido
- C) querido
- D) dado
What does dar mean in English?
- A) to know
- B) to want
- C) to give
- D) to see
Answer key
- D) doy — the yo form of dar in the present indicative is doy. The other options (das, da, damos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) dio — the él/ella/Ud. form of dar in the preterite is dio. The other options (di, diste, dimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) dábamos — the nosotros/as form of dar in the imperfect is dábamos. The other options (daba, dabas, daba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) darás — the tú form of dar in the future is darás. The other options (daré, dará, daremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) daría — the yo form of dar in the conditional is daría. The other options (darías, daría, daríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) dé — the él/ella/Ud. form of dar in the present subjunctive is dé. The other options (dé, des, demos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) diera — the yo form of dar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is diera. The other options (dieras, diera, diéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) dando — the gerund of dar is dando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) dado — the past participle of dar is dado; perfect tenses use haber + dado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to give — dar means “to give” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does dar mean in English?
dar means “to give”. You use it for giving presents and help, for saying thanks, and for going for a walk (dar un paseo). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is dar regular or irregular?
dar is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is dando and the past participle is dado.
What are the gerund and past participle of dar?
The gerund is dando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is dado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he dado (I have given).
What is the difference between dar and recibir?
Dar means to give; recibir means to receive — the direction is opposite. If you are unsure, check the full table for recibir and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I give” in Spanish?
Say “Yo doy un regalo a mi madre.” — “I give a present to my mother every day.” The yo form of the present is doy, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- dar in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- dar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Ver conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Saber conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Querer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise dar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise dar with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise dar with the interactive tool.