Dar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese
dar — to give — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a irregular -ar verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the verb of giving, and it appears in many set phrases for giving help, giving a hand and giving news. Its present and future are irregular, with a short stem that changes in the singular: dou, dás, dá, damos, dais, dão. Note the AO90 subjunctive forms demos and deem, with no accent. On this page you will find dar in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the dar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the dar pretérito perfeito tense page.
Example sentences with dar
In the present tense
- “Eu dou um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “I give a book to Maria”
- “Tu dás um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “You give a book to Maria”
- “Ele dá um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “He gives a book to Maria”
- “Nós damos um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “We give a book to Maria”
- “Vós dais um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “You give a book to Maria”
- “Eles dão um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “They give a book to Maria”
In the pretérito perfeito
- “Eu dei um livro à Maria ontem.” — “I gave a book to Maria”
- “Tu deste um livro à Maria ontem.” — “You gave a book to Maria”
- “Ele deu um livro à Maria ontem.” — “He gave a book to Maria”
- “Nós demos um livro à Maria ontem.” — “We gave a book to Maria”
- “Vós destes um livro à Maria ontem.” — “You gave a book to Maria”
- “Eles deram um livro à Maria ontem.” — “They gave a book to Maria”
In other tenses
The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.
- “Eu dava um livro à Maria antigamente.” — “I used to give a book to Maria”
- “Tu darás um livro à Maria amanhã.” — “You will give a book to Maria”
- “Ele daria um livro à Maria um dia.” — “He would give a book to Maria”
- “É importante que nós demos um livro à Maria.” — “It is important that we give a book to Maria”
- “Dá um livro à Maria!” — “Give a book to Maria!”
How dar is used
The first thing to know about dar is its core meaning: to give. It is the verb of giving, and it appears in many set phrases for giving help, giving a hand and giving news. Its present and future are irregular, with a short stem that changes in the singular: dou, dás, dá, damos, dais, dão. Note the AO90 subjunctive forms demos and deem, with no accent. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company dar keeps. The present eu form is dou, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho dado, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what dar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need dou, never dar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho dado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle dado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Dar in context
Eu dou um livro à Maria todos os dias. Tu dás um livro à Maria todos os dias. Ele dá um livro à Maria todos os dias. Nós damos um livro à Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of dar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — dou, dás, dá, damos — while the meaning stays the same: to give. Eu dei um livro à Maria ontem. Tu deste um livro à Maria ontem. Ele deu um livro à Maria ontem. Nós demos um livro à Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of dar appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to give — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Eu dar um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu dou um livro à Maria todos os dias.”
The infinitive dar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form dou.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Eu dás um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu dou um livro à Maria todos os dias.”
dás is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is dou — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Eu dou um livro à Maria ontem.”
✓ Right: “Eu dei um livro à Maria ontem.”
Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito dei here, not the present dou.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Eu sou dado um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu tenho dado um livro à Maria esta semana.”
dar takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho dado — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on dar across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of dar in the Present indicative (presente)?
- A) dou
- B) dás
- C) dá
- D) damos
What is the eu form of dar in the Pretérito perfeito composto?
- A) tens dado
- B) tem dado
- C) tenho dado
- D) temos dado
What is the ele/ela form of dar in the Pretérito imperfeito?
- A) davas
- B) dávamos
- C) dáveis
- D) dava
What is the nós form of dar in the Futuro do presente?
- A) daremos
- B) darei
- C) darás
- D) dará
What is the tu form of dar in the Futuro do pretérito?
- A) daria
- B) darias
- C) daríamos
- D) daríeis
What is the eu form of dar in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?
- A) deras
- B) déramos
- C) dera
- D) déreis
What is the nós form of dar in the Presente do subjuntivo?
- A) dê
- B) dês
- C) deis
- D) demos
What is the gerund of dar?
- A) dando
- B) dado
- C) dar
- D) dou
What is the past participle of dar?
- A) dando
- B) dado
- C) dar
- D) dou
What does dar mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to give
- D) —
Answer key
- B) dás — the correct form is dás. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tenho dado — the correct form is tenho dado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) dava — the correct form is dava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) daremos — the correct form is daremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) darias — the correct form is darias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) dera — the correct form is dera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) demos — the correct form is demos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) dando — the correct form is dando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) dado — the correct form is dado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to give — the correct form is to give. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does dar mean in English?
dar means “to give”. You use it whenever you talk about to give in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.
Is dar regular or irregular?
dar is irregular. dar is irregular in presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples, presente do subjuntivo, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo, futuro do subjuntivo, imperativo afirmativo, imperativo negativo — learn those forms as a set.
What are the gerund and past participle of dar?
The gerund is dando and the past participle is dado. The perfect tenses use ter + dado.
Where can I see the full conjugation of dar?
On the dar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The dar pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for dar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- dar conjugation — full tables
- dar in the pretérito perfeito tense
- Portuguese pretérito perfeito tense guide — the full guide to the pretérito perfeito tense in Portuguese.
- Portuguese irregular verbs — every common irregular Portuguese verb, grouped by pattern.
- Estar conjugation — another Portuguese verb in this batch.
- Ficar conjugation — another Portuguese verb in this batch.
- Portuguese verbs — the full hub of Portuguese conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Quiz — practise dar with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise dar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise dar with the interactive tool.