Dar Conjugation: Free Spanish Lesson, Exercises, and PDF

What would you give to become fluent in Spanish? Dar is a common verb in Spanish; however, its conjugations can be a challenge sometimes. But don’t worry, here at Homeschool Spanish Academy we have your back! 

This post is all about dar and its conjugations, from the meaning of this irregular verb and its verbals to the indicative, subjunctive, and imperative conjugations in all their tenses. 

Without further ado, here I give you the ultimate guide to dar conjugation!

The Spanish Verb Dar

The Spanish verb dar is usually translated as “to give.” It’s a derivation of the Latin word dare, which in turn comes from the Indo-European root, do. Dar is one of the most common verbs in Spanish and, as such, it can be used in many different contexts. 

Most times, you can use dar in the exact same context as you use “to give” in English. For example, Te doy una manzana (I give you an apple). Another context is when someone “throws” a party or “holds” a concert, you could say something like Shakira dio un concierto en Colombia (Shakira held a concert in Colombia). In Spanish, you can actually dar a concert or a party. 

Finally, dar can also be translated as “produce.” For example, Esta vaca da mucha leche (This cow produces a lot of milk). In Spanish, a tree can dar fruit, and a cow can dar milk. It’s important to remember not to confuse the Spanish verb dar with the reflexive verb darse, as they mean different things.  

Now that you have a better understanding of the different contexts in which this verb can be used, it’s time to focus on the dar conjugations. 

Dar: An Irregular Verb

Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t follow the same pattern of conjugation as most verbs in Spanish, and dar is one of them. For that reason, the dar conjugations follow a very peculiar pattern, one that shares with two other verbs: ir (to go) and estar (to be).

Subject	Dar (to give)	Ir (to go)	Estar (to be)
yo	doy	voy	estoy
tú	das	vas	estás
él/ella	da	va	está
nosotros	damos	vamos	estamos
ustedes	dan	van	están
ellos/ellas	dan	van	están

Dar Conjugation

Although both English and Spanish have three moods and several tenses, the Spanish conjugations are way more complicated than the English ones. That’s because verbs in Spanish have a variation for pretty much every subject, mood, and tense, while in English, variations are minimal. 

For instance, in the present indicative tense of dar, you have: yo doy, tú das, él/ella da, nosotros damos, ustedes dan, ellos/ellas dan. While in English all you have is: I give, you give, he/she gives, we give, you give, they give. Five variations in Spanish, only one in English. 

Studying all the accumulated dar conjugations along with all the other irregular verbs may seems like a daunting task. However, I’m here to tell you not to worry about it. At first, you do need to memorize them to be able to start using them, but with time you’ll develop a feeling for the language and conjugations will come naturally to you.

Let’s start by looking at the dar verbals and then we’ll move on to its full set of conjugations.

Dar Verbals

The three verbals are infinitive, gerund, and participle, and they exist both in English and Spanish. They are words derived from a verb that function as modifiers in sentences. However, they don’t respond to number, person, or tense, which means that verbals are never conjugated.

Dar Verbals
	Verbal	Example
Infinitive	dar (to give)	Es importante dar amor a tus hijos. – It’s important to give love to your children.
Gerund	dando (giving)	Estaba dando una clase, cuando empezó a llover. – I was giving a class when it started raining.
Participle	dado (given)	Te he dado este regalo. – I’ve given this gift to you.

Dar Conjugation: Indicative Mood

Let’s start with the dar conjugations from the 5 simple tenses of the indicative mood, followed by the 5 compound tenses, which include the auxiliary verb haber (to have).

Dar Conjugation: Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
Subject	Present	Preterite	Imperfect	Conditional	Future
	(give, gives)	(gave)	(gave)	(would give)	(will give)
yo	doy	di	daba	daría	daré
tú	das	diste	dabas	darías	darás
él/ella	da	dio	daba	daría	dará
nosotros	damos	dimos	dábamos	daríamos	daremos
ustedes	dan	dieron	daban	darían	darán
ellos/ellas	dan	dieron	daban	darían	darán

Dar Conjugation: Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
Subject	Present Perfect	Preterite Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Conditional Perfect	Future Perfect
	(have/has given)	(had given)	(had given)	(would have given)	(will have given)
yo	he dado	hube dado	había dado	habría dado	habré dado
tú	has dado	hubiste dado	habías dado	habrías dado	habrás dado
él/ella	ha dado	hubo dado	había dado	habría dado	habrá dado
nosotros	hemos dado	hubimos dado	habíamos dado	habríamos dado	habremos dado
ustedes	han dado	hubieron dado	habían dado	habrían dado	habrán dado
ellos/ellas	han dado	hubieron dado	habían dado	habrían dado	habrán dado

Dar Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood in Spanish has some verb endings that can be a little bit tricky, so it’s important to get them right. Here, I’m dividing its conjugations between simple and compound tenses and including the two variations of the imperfect. 

Dar Conjugation: Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
Subject	Present	Imperfect	Imperfect 2	Future
yo	dé	diera	diese	diere
tú	des	dieras	dieses	dieres
él/ella	dé	diera	diese	diere
nosotros	demos	diéramos	diésemos	diéremos
ustedes	den	dieran	diesen	dieren
ellos/ellas	den	dieran	diesen	dieren

Dar Conjugation: Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
Subject	Present Perfect	Past Perfect (Pluperfect)	Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2)	Future Perfect
yo	haya dado	hubiera dado	hubiese dado	hubiere dado
tú	hayas dado	hubieras dado	hubieses dado	hubieres dado
él/ella	haya dado	hubiera dado	hubiese dado	hubiere dado
nosotros	hayamos dado	hubiéramos dado	hubiésemos dado	hubiéremos dado
ustedes	hayan dado	hubieran dado	hubiesen dado	hubieren dado
ellos/ellas	hayan dado	hubieran dado	hubiesen dado	hubieren dado

Dar Conjugation: Imperative Mood

The imperative mood is used to give orders or commands. These commands can be affirmative or negative. However, as you cannot give an order to yourself or to a third person, those subjects are of no use in this mood. 

Dar Conjugation: Imperative Mood
Subject	Affirmative	Negative
	(give/let’s give)	(don’t give/let’s not give)
tú	da	no des
nosotros	demos	no demos
ustedes	den	no den

Dar Conjugation: Exercises

Fill in the blank using the right conjugation of dar: 

1. El viernes ________________ una fiesta en mi casa. – On Friday, I’ll throw a party at my house.

2. Ella  ________________ dinero a la caridad. – She gave money to charity. (imperfect)

3. Espero que  _______________ lo mejor de ti. – I hope you give it the best you have.

4. ¡Vamos,  _____________ tu opinión al respecto! – Come on, give your opinion about it!

5. Si no fuera por ti ________________ clases en la universidad. – If it wasn’t for you, I would have given classes at the university. 

6. Ojalá le ________________ más apoyo a mi madre. – I wish I had given more support to my mother.

7. Te ________________ mi bendición. – You have my blessing. (Literal: I give you my blessing.)

8. ¿Le _______________ tu palabra?. – Did you give him your word?

9. Si él ________________ su mejor esfuerzo, seguro ganaría. – If he were to give his best effort, he would surely win. 

10. En 2030, _____________ clases a más de mil alumnos. – In 2030, I will have given classes to over a thousand students.

Answer Key: 

1. daré
2. daba
3. des
4. da
5. habría dado
6. hubiera dado
7. doy
8. diste
9. diera
10. habré dado

Keep Practicing!

That wasn’t so hard, right? Remember that the key to mastering dar conjugations—and actually, every other set of conjugations in Spanish—is practice. Homeschool Spanish Academy offers the possibility of doing exactly that with native Spanish-speaking teachers from Guatemala, in a fun and flexible way. Sign up now for a free trial lesson and keep improving your Spanish grammar and speaking skills with one of our certified Spanish teachers.

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