March 10, 2021 by Nicole Canún Spanish Grammar 0 comments

A Quick Guide to Using ‘Darse Cuenta’ in Spanish Conversation

Darse cuenta in Spanish is a common phrase used in all Hispanic countries. Although the simple English translation is “to notice,” it has many more nuanced meanings.

What’s interesting about darse cuenta is that it’s a pronominal verb, a phrasal verb, and to make more complex sentences with it, it must precede the conjunction de que.

Let’s break it down into little manageable pieces, shall we?

¡Vamos!

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The Meanings of Darse Cuenta in Spanish

The literal translation of this common phrase is “to give account” or “to take account.”

Broken down into pieces, darse means “to give to oneself” and cuenta means “account.” This term originates from a Latin word that means “to enumerate, compute, calculate or count.”

As for everyday meanings of darse cuenta, the most common ones are:

to realize
to find out
to figure out
to sense
to discover
to become aware

Example Sentences

Me di cuenta de que caí en una trampa.
I figured out that I fell into a trap.

¡Date cuenta de que no fue un error!
Realize that it wasn’t a mistake!

Me di cuenta de lo que dijeron a mis espaldas.
I discovered what you all said behind my back.

Darse Cuenta is a Pronominal Verb

Darse cuenta in Spanish is a pronominal verb, in which case the verb and its reflexive pronoun must agree.

Reflexive pronouns are:

Me
Te
Nos
Se

Learn more: The Key to Reflexive Pronouns in Spanish

In its infinitive form, the suffix -se in darse indicates that the pronoun is one of the following:

Usted
Ustedes
Él
Ella
Ellos
Ellas

Which one is it? You can only get it from context.

Los niños estaban jugando. No podían darse cuenta.
The kids were playing. They couldn’t notice.

Ustedes trabajan ahí. Deberían darse cuenta.
You work there. You should notice.

Darse Cuenta is a Phrasal Verb

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and an adverb or preposition. Spanish, like English, is full of phrasal verbs. In reality, darse cuenta exists as darse cuenta de—always preceded by the preposition de—which means that you can’t say things like “ella se da cuenta que es demasiado tarde” (incorrect!), but instead ella se da cuenta de que es demasiado tarde (“She realizes that it’s too late”).

Darse cuenta can be followed by:

de que (as shown above, it shows emphasis on the verb)
del (that is a Spanish contraction of de and el, it shows emphasis on the masculine noun)
de la (it shows emphasis on the noun if it is femenine)

Darse cuenta de + direct object

The direct object can either replace pronouns, answer the question “what?” or “whom?” (¿qué? o ¿quién?) or be subordinate clauses. This sentence component is always part of the predicate and receives the action of the verb. In Spanish it is called objeto directo or complemento directo.

Darse cuenta de algo (formula = verb phrase + preposition de + direct object)

Te diste cuenta del horario.
You became aware of the timetable.

Se dió cuenta de la luz roja.
He noticed the red light.

Darse cuenta de que… (formula = verb phrase + preposition de + subordinate clause)

Me doy cuenta de que ya no eres mi amigo.
I realize that you’re not my friend anymore.

Darse cuenta de + que (subordinate clause)

The conjunction de que means “that” and it links an independent clause to a subordinate or dependent clause. When it comes to darse cuenta de, “the thing” being figured out is a subordinate clause, dependent on the subject.

Te diste cuenta de que era broma.
You realized (that) it was a joke.

No se dio cuenta de que la película ya había acabado.
He didn’t notice that the movie had already ended.

Nos dimos cuenta de que ya era tarde.
We realized (that) it was late.

Darse cuenta de + lo + adjective + que

When you use darse cuenta in Spanish, you can inject neuter gender lo + adjective between de and que, which translates to the word “how” + adjective.

Nos dimos cuenta de lo tarde que era.
We realized how late it was.

Me di cuenta de lo bien que me caía.
I became aware of how much I liked him.

Te diste cuenta de lo mal que olía.
You noticed how badly it smelled.

How to Conjugate Darse Cuenta in Spanish

Learn how to conjugate darse cuenta quick and simple. These next tenses are the most commonly used in Spanish.

Let’s explore the following tenses:

Simple past
Simple present
Simple future
Present progressive
Perfect conditional
Imperative (affirmative)

You will not find any subject pronouns like yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros, and ellos in the following charts. They aren’t needed because they are implied in the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, se) and in the reflexive verb conjugation.

Simple Past

Me	di cuenta
Te	diste cuenta
Se	dio cuenta
Nos	dimos cuenta
Se	dieron cuenta

Me di cuenta de lo mucho que me gusta el helado.
I realized how much I like ice cream.

Nos dimos cuenta de que el cine estaba cerrado.
We realized the theatre was closed.

Te diste cuenta de que olvidaste las llaves.
You realized that you forgot the keys.

Simple Present

Me	doy cuenta
Te	das cuenta
Se	da cuenta
Nos	damos cuenta
Se	dan cuenta

Me doy cuenta hasta ahora.
I’m realizing just now.

Nos damos cuenta de que es tarde.
We realize it’s late.

¿Te das cuenta de lo mucho que te quiero?
Do you realize how much I love you?

Simple Future

Me	Daré cuenta
Te	Darás cuenta
Se	Dará cuenta
Nos	Daremos cuenta
Se	Darán cuenta

Me daré cuenta algún día.
I will figure it out one day.

Ellos se darán cuenta a tiempo.
They will become aware on time.

Te darás cuenta porque tu cuerpo te lo dirá.
You will sense it because your body will tell you.

Present Progressive

Me	estoy dando cuenta
Te	estás dando cuenta
Se	está dando cuenta
Nos	estamos dando cuenta
Se	están dando cuenta

Se está dando cuenta de que están perdidos.
He is realizing that they are lost.

Nos estamos dando cuenta de que no dimos propina.
We are realizing that we didn’t give a tip.

Me estoy dando cuenta de que no traje dinero.
I’m realizing that I didn’t bring any money.

Perfect conditional

Me	habría dado cuenta
Te	habrías dado cuenta
Se	habrían dado cuenta
Nos	habríamos dado cuenta
Se	habrían dado cuenta

Se habrían dado cuenta de que no había luz.
They would have noticed that the lights were out.

Nos habríamos dado cuenta de que ella no quería salir.
We would have noticed that she didn’t want to go outside.

Se habrían dado cuenta de que la casa estaba cerrada.
They would have realized that the house was closed.

Imperative in the Affirmative

The imperative mood allows you to give commands. This mood is not a tense and doesn’t include the first-person subject pronoun (yo) or the third person (él, ella, ellos, ellas).

Here are the imperative conjugations of darse cuenta in Spanish:

Date cuenta – (you) realize

Dese cuenta – (you, formal) realize

Démonos cuenta – Let’s realize

Dense cuenta – (you, plural) realize

Date cuenta de que es mejor hacer ejercicio.
Realize that it is better to exercise.

Dese cuenta de que ya no puede salir de noche.
Realize that you can’t go out at night anymore.

Dense cuenta de lo mucho que los apreciamos.
Realize how much we appreciate you.

¡Date cuenta de lo que aprendiste!

Congratulations! You just finished a lesson on darse cuenta in Spanish. It will help you dig into the Spanish language and express yourself more precisely. Now you only need to practice, and what better way than to do it in a 1-on-1 session with a certified native Spanish-speaker. Do not hesitate and date cuenta de que the only way to learn a language is to actually speak it! Join our +24,000 thousand monthly active students and let everyone darse cuenta of how quickly you can learn Spanish!

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Nicole Canún

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Blogger, content creator, and marketer. Proudly Mexican. Been to 30 countries. I love learning from different cultures and trying their cuisines. Obsessed with Asia. Fluent in Spanish and English, not so much in French.