Dar (To Give) — Full Conjugation

Dar means to give — but that translation covers only a fraction of what this verb does in Portuguese. Dar is one of the most irregular and most useful verbs in the language: it is the workhorse of light-verb constructions (dar um passeio, dar uma festa, dar uma ajuda), it expresses possibility and sufficiency (dá para comer?, dá-me jeito), it handles mutual relationships (dar-se bem com alguém), and it lives inside dozens of idioms you will hear every single day in Portugal (dar nas vistas, dar em nada, dar uma volta). Every learner needs dar from day one.

This page gives you every conjugated form of dar — and because the verb is highly irregular, every tense matters — and then walks you through the usage patterns that turn the verb from a textbook entry into a tool you can actually use.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The present tense of dar is irregular and must be memorized. Note the nasal ending on dão — a hallmark of the 3pl of monosyllabic -ar verbs (compare são, vão, estão).

The acute on dás and dá is essential — without it, das would be the preposition-article contraction "from the" (as in das mulheres), and da would also be a contraction ("of the"). The accent disambiguates the verb from these common words.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

The imperfect is fully regular, built on the stem d- plus the -ar imperfect endings.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Highly irregular. The 1sg is dei (not dai), and the rest of the paradigm is built on the stem d- with unique endings.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

Built on the preterite stem de- plus the pluperfect endings. Literary; in speech use the compound pluperfect.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Regular in shape — infinitive dar plus the future endings -ei, -ás, -á, -emos, -eis, -ão.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

One of the few places in Portuguese where the subjunctive stem is unpredictable. The forms dê and dêmos take a circumflex; dêem was the pre-reform spelling of the 3pl, now written deem.

The circumflex on dê and dês is not optional: dê distinguishes the subjunctive from the preposition de; dês from other forms. The 1pl dêmos is sometimes written without the circumflex (demos) — both are accepted in post-reform orthography, and demos is identical to the 1pl preterite demos (from dar) and the 1pl present of dar is damos, so ambiguity is rare.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Built on the preterite stem de- plus -sse endings. Déssemos carries the acute to mark the stressed syllable.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Note: the future subjunctive of irregular verbs is built from the eles form of the preterite (deram → drop -am → der-), not from the infinitive. This is why the future subjunctive of dar is der, not dar, and why it differs from the personal infinitive (which is built on dar).

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

The tu affirmative is dá (matching 3sg present). The você, nós, and vocês forms are taken from the present subjunctive.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Note the important difference with der, deres, der, dermos, derem (future subjunctive): the personal infinitive of dar is built on the infinitive stem (dar-), while the future subjunctive is built on the preterite stem (der-). This is one of the few verb paradigms where the two tenses do not coincide.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage notes

Dar is one of the most productive verbs in Portuguese. Here are the patterns you need from day one.

1. Literal giving

dar algo a alguém — give something to someone.

• Dei-lhe um livro. — I gave him/her a book.
• Vou dar um presente à minha mãe. — I'm going to give my mother a present.

The object given is a direct object; the recipient is an indirect object (usually with a, or as the clitic lhe / me / te / nos).

2. Light-verb constructions

Dar combines with a noun to form a single action. This is extremely common — often you would use a full verb in English.

• dar um passeio — to go for a walk
• dar uma volta — to take a stroll; to go for a drive
• dar uma festa — to throw / host a party
• dar uma aula — to teach a class; to give a lecture
• dar uma palestra — to give a talk
• dar uma ajuda (a alguém) — to give (someone) a hand
• dar um abraço / um beijo — to give a hug / a kiss
• dar um salto (a) — to pop over (to)
• dar uma olhada / uma vista de olhos — to have a look

3. Possibility and sufficiency — dar para

One of the most Portuguese uses of dar. Dá para + infinitive means it is possible / it works / there is enough for.

• Dá para comer? — Is this edible? / Can you eat this?
• Dá para ouvir? — Can (you/one) hear?
• Não dá para ir hoje. — It's not possible to go today. / We can't go today.
• Este pão dá para todos. — This bread is enough for everyone.

4. Turning out / resulting — dar em

• dar em nada — to come to nothing, to fizzle out
• dar em louco — to go mad
• A festa deu em confusão. — The party turned into chaos.

5. Getting along — dar-se bem (com)

• dar-se bem com alguém — to get on well with someone
• dar-se mal com alguém — to clash with someone
• Dou-me muito bem com a minha cunhada. — I get on really well with my sister-in-law.

6. Other common expressions

• dar certo / dar errado — to work out / fail — O plano não deu certo.
• dar conta (de) — to realize, to be able to handle — Não dou conta do trabalho.
• dar-se ao luxo de — to afford / allow oneself the luxury of
• dar nas vistas — to stand out, to attract attention
• dar jeito — to come in handy, to be useful — Dava-me muito jeito. (That would be very handy for me.)
• dar para + inf. (in the sense of having a vocation) — Ele dá para a música. (He's got a talent for music.)

Clitics with dar

Dar is very often used with clitic pronouns (me, te, lhe, nos, se). In European Portuguese, the default in declarative main clauses is enclisis (clitic after the verb), but proclisis (clitic before the verb) is triggered by negation, conjunctions, certain adverbs, interrogatives, and subordinate clauses:

• Dou-te um livro. (enclisis — default)
• Não te dou nada. (proclisis after não)
• Quando me deres o livro... (proclisis in subordinate clause)

This is not special to dar — it is the general rule — but dar is so common that you will practice these patterns constantly.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Dar is highly irregular. Memorize: dou, dás, dá, damos, dão (present); dei, deste, deu, demos, deram (preterite); dê, dês, dê, dêmos/demos, deem (present subjunctive); der, deres, der, dermos, derem (future subjunctive).
• Accents matter constantly: dá (not da); dê (not de); dês (not des). Without them, the forms collide with prepositions and contractions.
• Post-1990 Acordo Ortográfico: dêem is now deem. Dêmos can be written demos, though dêmos is still accepted.
• The future subjunctive is der / deres / der / dermos / derem — built on the preterite stem — while the personal infinitive is dar / dares / dar / darmos / darem. The two do not coincide for dar.
• Dar is a super-productive light verb: dar um passeio, dar uma aula, dar uma festa, dar uma ajuda — learn these as fixed collocations.
• Dá para + inf. is one of the most Portuguese expressions there is: is it possible / does it work for / is there enough for. Master it early.
• Pair dar with clitic pronouns constantly: dou-te, deu-me, dê-lhe, darmos-nos bem.