Dō means “give,” “grant,” “hand over,” or, in many idioms, “provide.” Its principal parts are dō, dare, dedī, datum. It resembles the first conjugation but preserves a short a in forms such as damus, datis, dare, and datum. Long ā occurs in dās, the imperative dā, present passive dāris/dāre, and participle dāns; it must not be extended through the whole paradigm.
The basic construction has an accusative thing and a dative recipient: librum puellae dō “I give the girl a book.” English word order can change, but Latin cases keep those roles clear.
Indicative: Complete Active Paradigm
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | dō | dās | dat | damus | datis | dant |
| Imperfect | dabam | dabās | dabat | dabāmus | dabātis | dabant |
| Future | dabō | dabis | dabit | dabimus | dabitis | dabunt |
| Perfect | dedī | dedistī | dedit | dedimus | dedistis | dedērunt / dedēre |
| Pluperfect | dederam | dederās | dederat | dederāmus | dederātis | dederant |
| Future perfect | dederō | dederis | dederit | dederimus | dederitis | dederint |
Avus nepōtī librum dat.
The grandfather gives his grandchild a book.
Mercātor cotīdiē pauperibus cibum dabat.
The merchant used to give food to the poor every day.
Crās tibi responsum dabō.
Tomorrow I shall give you an answer.
Amīcī mihi bonum cōnsilium dedērunt.
My friends gave me good advice.
Subjunctive: Complete Active Paradigm
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | dem | dēs | det | dēmus | dētis | dent |
| Imperfect | darem | darēs | daret | darēmus | darētis | darent |
| Perfect | dederim | dederīs | dederit | dederīmus | dederītis | dederint |
| Pluperfect | dedissem | dedissēs | dedisset | dedissēmus | dedissētis | dedissent |
Rogat ut sibi paululum temporis dēmus.
She asks us to give her a little time.
Utinam dī nōbīs pācem dent!
May the gods grant us peace!
The old subjunctive duim, duīs, duit, duint appears in Early Latin, prayers, and later archaism (archaic/formulaic). Neutral Classical prose uses dem, dēs, det, dent.
Passive Voice
The present-system passive is regular apart from the same vowel quantities:
| Tense | 1st sg. | 2nd sg. | 3rd sg. | 1st pl. | 2nd pl. | 3rd pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | dor | dāris / dāre | datur | damur | daminī | dantur |
| Imperfect | dabar | dabāris | dabātur | dabāmur | dabāminī | dabantur |
| Future | dabor | daberis | dabitur | dabimur | dabiminī | dabuntur |
| Present subjunctive | der | dēris | dētur | dēmur | dēminī | dentur |
| Imperfect subjunctive | darer | darēris | darētur | darēmur | darēminī | darentur |
Perfect passive uses datus, -a, -um plus sum: liber datus est, epistula data erat, dōna data erunt; liber datus sit, epistula data esset.
Praemium victōrī ā iūdice datur.
A prize is given to the victor by the judge.
Litterae herī mihi datae sunt.
The letter was handed to me yesterday.
The dative recipient remains dative in the passive; the accusative gift becomes nominative. English can promote either participant (“the winner was given a prize”), but Latin normally promotes the thing given: praemium victōrī datum est.
Imperatives and Non-Finite Forms
Present imperatives are dā and date; passive dāre, daminī. The future active has datō (second- or third-person singular), datōte (second-person plural), and dantō (third-person plural); the future passive has dator (second- or third-person singular) and dantor (third-person plural). These future forms are (formal/archaic).
Dā mihi manum et surgē.
Give me your hand and get up.
| Category | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present infinitive | dare | darī |
| Perfect infinitive | dedisse | datum esse |
| Future infinitive | datūrum esse | datum īrī |
| Participles | dāns, dantis; datūrus | datus; dandus |
| Gerund | dandī, dandō, dandum, dandō | — |
| Supines | datum, datū | — |
Dīxit sē pecūniam amīcō dedisse.
He said that he had given money to a friend.
Nōbīs exemplum bonum dandum est.
We must provide a good example.
Recipient, Gift, and Idiom
First locate the accusative thing and dative recipient before translating. Either may be omitted if context supplies it: mihi dedit “he gave it to me”; librum dedit “he gave the book.” A personal agent in a passive uses ā/ab + ablative, not another dative.
For the recipient pattern across verbs, see the dative as indirect object.
Common collocations extend “give”:
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| operam dare + dative | devote effort to, attend to |
| poenās dare | pay the penalty |
| nōmen dare | give one’s name, register/enlist |
| locum dare | give way, yield |
| litterās dare | deliver or dispatch a letter |
Discipulus grammaticae multam operam dat.
The student devotes much effort to grammar.
The compact formula dō ut dēs “I give so that you may give” is (formal/ritual or legal). It illustrates that ut introduces a purpose clause with subjunctive dēs; it is not a special tense of dō.
Changing Active to Passive
In pater fīliae pecūniam dat “the father gives his daughter money,” accusative pecūniam is the direct object and dative fīliae the recipient. A personal passive promotes the direct object: pecūnia fīliae ā patre datur. The recipient remains dative, while the former subject becomes an agent phrase.
Pecūnia fīliae ā patre data est.
The money was given to the daughter by her father.
English also permits “the daughter was given money.” Do not copy that promotion into Latin as fīlia pecūniam data est. Latin’s nominative passive subject is normally the thing given, and the participle agrees with that thing.
The same analysis handles abstract gifts. In cōnsilium mihi datum est, nominative cōnsilium controls neuter datum, while mihi marks the recipient. Begin with case, not English word order.
Tense and Aspect in Giving
Imperfect dabat presents giving as repeated or in progress; perfect dedit presents a completed transfer. The English simple past can translate either, so an adverb or discourse context often reveals the contrast.
Cotīdiē viātōribus aquam dabat; hodiē mihi quoque dedit.
Every day she used to give travelers water; today she gave some to me as well.
The future-perfect/perfect-subjunctive form dederit is likewise ambiguous in isolation. In sī librum dederit, grātiās agam it is future perfect; after nesciō quis, it can be perfect subjunctive in an indirect question. Clause type completes the parse.
Compounds
Most compounds become third-conjugation verbs in -dō, -dere and must be learned with their own perfects and supines:
| Verb | Principal parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| addō | addere, addidī, additum | add |
| condō | condere, condidī, conditum | found, store |
| dēdō | dēdere, dēdidī, dēditum | surrender |
| perdō | perdere, perdidī, perditum | destroy, lose |
| reddō | reddere, reddidī, redditum | give back |
| trādō | trādere, trādidī, trāditum | hand over, transmit |
Do not conjugate trādō like simple dō: present plural is trādimus, infinitive trādere.
A smaller set remains first-conjugation like simple dō: circumdō, interdō, pessumdō, satisdō, superdō, and vēnumdō retain an infinitive in -dare and the dedī/datum perfect-system pattern. Thus circumdō has circumdare, circumdedī, circumdatum. Learn whether a compound belongs to this smaller set or to the much larger -dere group.
Common Mistakes
Treating dare as a regular first-conjugation infinitive
❌ Dāre est īnfīnītīvus praesentis.
Incorrect quantity — the infinitive has short a.
✅ Dare est īnfīnītīvus praesentis.
Dare is the present infinitive.
Giving the recipient the accusative
❌ Librum puellam dō.
Incorrect — the recipient must be dative.
✅ Librum puellae dō.
I give the girl a book.
Inventing a regular perfect
❌ Herī tibi librum dāvī.
Incorrect — the perfect is dedī.
✅ Herī tibi librum dedī.
Yesterday I gave you a book.
Mistaking a compound subjunctive for an indicative
⚠️ Librum nunc trādāmus.
Valid as ‘let us hand over the book now,’ but not as the present indicative ‘we are handing over.’
✅ Librum nunc trādimus.
We are handing over the book now.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize dō, dare, dedī, datum and the limited distribution of long ā.
- The gift is accusative and the recipient dative; passive normally promotes the gift.
- Ded- forms the perfect active and dat- the participial/supine system.
- Frequent idioms must be learned as units.
- Compounds generally shift to third-conjugation -dere and have their own principal parts.
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