Present Indicative of Dar | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb dar (to give) is one of the most versatile and frequently used verbs in European Portuguese. Its present indicative forms are highly irregular -- the eu form dou is monosyllabic (like sou, vou, and estou), several forms carry written accents, and the verb appears in dozens of fixed expressions that go well beyond the basic meaning of "to give."

Conjugation

Person	Form	English
eu	dou	I give
tu	dás	you give
ele / ela / você	dá	he/she gives; you give
nós	damos	we give
(vós)	(dais)	(you all give)
eles / elas / vocês	dão	they give; you all give

The eu form dou is completely unpredictable from the infinitive -- it belongs to a tiny group of monosyllabic first-person forms in Portuguese (dou, sou, vou, estou). The tu and ele forms carry acute accents (dás, dá) to distinguish them from the preposition da and the article contraction das. The eles form dão carries a til to mark the nasal diphthong. Only nós damos looks like a regular -ar conjugation.

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The accents on dás, dá, and dão are not optional. Without the accent, da is the contraction of de + a (of the), and das is de + as. The accent marks tell the reader -- and the learner -- that these are verb forms, not preposition contractions.

Giving

The core meaning of dar is to give something to someone. With pronouns, European Portuguese places the clitic after the verb in affirmative sentences and before it in negative sentences.

Dou-te este livro.

I give you this book.

Dás-me o teu número?

Will you give me your number?

Ela dá uma prenda ao filho.

She gives a present to her son.

Dar para -- suitability and possibility

One of the most common and distinctly European Portuguese constructions is dar para + infinitive, meaning "to be possible to" or "to be suitable for." It is far more colloquial than é possível and appears constantly in everyday speech.

Dá para abrir a janela?

Can you open the window? (Is it possible to open the window?)

Isto não dá para nada.

This is no good for anything.

Dá para fazer amanhã?

Is it possible to do it tomorrow?

In the negative, não dá on its own means "it won't work" or "it's not possible" -- a very common standalone reply in conversation.

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Dá para is one of the most useful constructions to learn early. Where a textbook might teach you É possível abrir a janela?, a Portuguese speaker will almost always say Dá para abrir a janela? in casual conversation. It sounds natural and avoids overly formal phrasing.

Dar-se bem / mal com -- getting along

The reflexive form dar-se followed by bem or mal and the preposition com expresses how well someone gets along with another person or adapts to a situation.

Dou-me bem com os meus colegas.

I get along well with my colleagues.

Ele não se dá bem com o chefe.

He doesn't get along with his boss.

The reflexive dar-se conta (to realize) is another common construction: Dei-me conta de que estava atrasado (I realized I was late). In the present tense: Dão-se conta do problema? (Do they realize the problem?).

Teaching, showing, broadcasting

Dar is used for giving classes, broadcasting programmes, and showing films -- contexts where English might use "show," "teach," or "broadcast."

O professor dá aulas de história.

The teacher gives history classes.

Dão um filme bom na televisão.

They're showing a good film on television.

Dar in expressions

Dar is one of the most versatile verbs in European Portuguese, appearing in a wide range of fixed expressions. These are essential for natural-sounding speech.

Expression	Meaning	Example
dar um passeio	to take a walk	Damos um passeio depois do jantar.
dar uma olhada / vista de olhos	to take a look	Dás uma olhada nisto?
dar conta de	to realize	Não dou conta do que aconteceu.
dar jeito	to come in handy / to be convenient	Isso dá muito jeito!
dar-se ao trabalho de	to bother to	Não se dão ao trabalho de responder.
dar à luz	to give birth	Ela dá à luz em março.

The expression dar jeito is particularly European Portuguese -- you will hear it constantly in Portugal, but it is uncommon in Brazilian Portuguese. It means something is convenient, useful, or comes at the right time: Esse dicionário dá-me muito jeito (That dictionary is really useful to me).

Dar para + infinitive vs poder

Learners sometimes confuse dar para with poder, since both can translate as "can" in English. The distinction is subtle but important.

Dar para	Poder
Dá para ver daqui. (You can see from here -- it's possible.)	Posso ver? (Can I see? -- may I / am I able to?)
Não dá para estacionar. (There's no way to park -- no space.)	Não podes estacionar aqui. (You can't park here -- it's forbidden.)
Dá para fazer isso? (Is that doable?)	Podes fazer isso? (Can you do that? -- are you willing/able?)

Dar para focuses on whether circumstances make something feasible. Poder focuses on ability, permission, or willingness. In casual EP, dar para often replaces poder when the question is about practical feasibility.

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting accents on dás, dá, and dão. All three forms require their diacritical marks. Without them, you are writing preposition contractions (da, das) or a meaningless string (dao). Always write dás, dá, dão.

2. Using dar para where poder is needed. Dá para ajudar-me? asks whether helping is practically feasible. Podes ajudar-me? asks whether someone is willing or able. For a direct request to a person, poder is usually more natural.

3. Writing dámos with an accent. Unlike the other forms, damos carries no accent -- it follows regular -ar verb stress on the penultimate syllable. Writing dámos is a spelling error.

4. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun in dar-se. "I get along well" is Dou-me bem, not Dou bem. The reflexive pronoun is essential for the meaning of mutual interaction or personal experience.