Verbs: дава́ть / дать — "to give" Aspect: дава́ть is imperfective, дать is its perfective partner (a true aspect pair) Type: both are irregular — дава́ть drops its -ва- suffix in the present, and дать has a rare athematic conjugation shared by only a handful of verbs
This is one of the most useful and most irregular verb pairs in the language, and the two halves misbehave in completely different ways. The imperfective дава́ть looks like a normal verb in its infinitive but quietly drops the -ва- suffix in the present tense. The perfective дать has one of the strangest paradigms in Russian: it conjugates athematically (without the usual -е-/-и- linking vowel), patterning with есть "to eat" and a few others. Both govern the same case frame — you give a thing (accusative) to someone (dative) — so once you have the forms, the syntax is straightforward. Stress is marked on every form below, since this is a page you'll consult for pronunciation.
Present tense — only дава́ть has one
Only the imperfective has a present tense. The headline irregularity: the -ва- of the infinitive disappears, and the verb becomes end-stressed throughout.
| Person | дава́ть (imperfective present) |
|---|---|
| я | даю́ |
| ты | даёшь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | даёт |
| мы | даём |
| вы | даёте |
| они́ | даю́т |
Note the -ёшь / -ёт / -ём / -ёте with ё (always stressed). The same -ва--dropping pattern runs through a whole family of verbs — встава́ть → встаю́ ("get up"), узнава́ть → узнаю́ ("find out"), продава́ть → продаю́ ("sell") — so this single paradigm unlocks several common verbs at once.
Я всегда́ даю́ ему́ второ́й шанс.
I always give him a second chance. — present (habitual): даю́ + dative ему́.
Э́тот ры́нок даёт хоро́шую возмо́жность зарабо́тать.
This market gives a good opportunity to make money. — даёт, 3rd person singular.
Past tense
Both verbs build the past on their infinitive stem; both are regular in shape, but дать has a mobile stress with the famous end-stressed feminine дала́.
| Gender / number | дава́ть (imperfective) | дать (perfective) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | дава́л | дал |
| feminine | дава́ла | дала́ |
| neuter | дава́ло | да́ло |
| plural | дава́ли | да́ли |
The imperfective past дава́л/дава́ла keeps fixed stress. The perfective is the tricky one: дал, дала́, да́ло, да́ли — masculine and feminine stress the ending region differently (note дала́ with end-stress), while neuter and plural pull back to the root. This is the same stress family as был/была́/бы́ло/бы́ли and dozens of other monosyllabic-root perfectives.
Учи́тель дава́л нам сли́шком мно́го дома́шней рабо́ты.
The teacher gave us too much homework. — imperfective дава́л: a repeated, ongoing situation.
Она́ дала́ мне свой но́мер телефо́на.
She gave me her phone number. — perfective дала́ (end-stressed feminine): one completed act.
Future tense
The two aspects build the future in completely different ways — this is the textbook illustration of the simple-vs-compound future split.
дава́ть (imperfective) → compound future with бу́ду + the infinitive:
| Person | дава́ть → compound future |
|---|---|
| я | бу́ду дава́ть |
| ты | бу́дешь дава́ть |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет дава́ть |
| мы | бу́дем дава́ть |
| вы | бу́дете дава́ть |
| они́ | бу́дут дава́ть |
дать (perfective) → simple future — and here is the famous athematic paradigm. These six forms look like a present tense but mean the future (perfectives have no present):
| Person | дать (perfective simple future) |
|---|---|
| я | дам |
| ты | дашь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | даст |
| мы | дади́м |
| вы | дади́те |
| они́ | даду́т |
Study this paradigm carefully — it is unlike any regular verb. The singular forms дам / дашь / даст take no linking vowel and no -ишь/-ешь ending at all, while the plural дади́м / дади́те / даду́т revive a -д- and become end-stressed. Only есть "to eat" (ем/ешь/ест/еди́м/еди́те/едя́т) and the prefixed relatives of these two (созда́ть, прода́ть, переда́ть…) follow the same template. Memorise дать and you have the key to a whole closed class.
Я дам тебе́ знать, как то́лько узна́ю.
I'll let you know as soon as I find out. — perfective future дам: a single promised act. (дать знать = 'to let know'.)
Они́ не даду́т нам ско́рого отве́та.
They won't give us a quick answer. — perfective future даду́т (3rd person plural).
Imperative
| Addressee | дава́ть (imperfective) | дать (perfective) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | дава́й | дай |
| вы (formal / plural) | дава́йте | да́йте |
The aspect split holds in commands too: дай / да́йте asks for a single specific handover ("give me X, please"), while дава́й / дава́йте has a more habitual or invitational flavour — and one enormously frequent special use (below).
Дай мне, пожа́луйста, соль.
Pass me the salt, please. — perfective дай: one specific request at the table.
Не дава́йте де́тям сла́дкое пе́ред сном.
Don't give the children sweets before bed. — imperfective дава́йте in a negated, general instruction.
Participles and verbal adverb
| Form | Russian | Note |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle (impf) | даю́щий | "(one) giving" — (formal / written) |
| verbal adverb (impf) | дава́я | "while giving / by giving" — (formal / written) |
| past passive participle (pf) | да́нный | "given" — very common as an adjective: да́нный слу́чай "the given case" |
| verbal adverb (pf) | дав | "having given" — (formal / written) |
The perfective passive participle да́нный has escaped into everyday vocabulary as an ordinary word meaning "given / the present (one)" — да́нные even works as a noun, "data."
В да́нный моме́нт меня́ нет на ме́сте.
At the present moment I'm not at my desk. — да́нный as a fixed adjective, 'the given/present moment'.
Key uses & collocations
1. Core frame: give a THING (accusative) to a PERSON (dative)
The basic syntax never changes: the thing handed over is the direct object (accusative) and the recipient is in the dative. This is the model indirect-object construction in Russian.
Роди́тели да́ли сы́ну де́ньги на кварти́ру.
The parents gave their son money for a flat. — сы́ну (dative recipient) + де́ньги (accusative thing).
The recipient-marking dative is the subject of the dative indirect object page.
2. дава́й / дава́йте = "let's" (the hortative auxiliary)
This is the single most important thing to know about дава́ть beyond "to give." дава́й (informal) and дава́йте (formal/plural) function as a "let's" particle: combined with a perfective first-person-plural future or an imperfective infinitive, they form suggestions.
Дава́й пойдём в кино́ сего́дня ве́чером.
Let's go to the cinema tonight. — дава́й + perfective пойдём = a suggestion.
Дава́йте начина́ть, уже́ по́здно.
Let's get started, it's already late. — дава́йте + imperfective infinitive начина́ть.
On its own, Дава́й! (informal) is also a hugely common conversational sign-off — "okay then / go on / bye" — closing a phone call. The full mechanics live on the let's and third-person commands page.
3. Idioms with дать / дава́ть
Many high-frequency expressions are built on this verb: дать знать ("let know"), дать сло́во ("give one's word / give the floor"), дава́ть уро́ки ("give lessons"), дать сда́чи ("give change" / "hit back"), не дава́ть поко́я ("give no peace").
Он дал сло́во, что бо́льше не опозда́ет.
He gave his word that he won't be late again. — дать сло́во, a fixed idiom.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я даю́ тебе́ э́то за́втра.
Incorrect — for a single completed future act use the perfective: Я дам тебе́ э́то за́втра. The present даю́ can't mean a one-off future event.
✅ Я дам тебе́ э́то за́втра.
I'll give you this tomorrow.
❌ Он дади́т мне кни́гу.
Incorrect form — the он-form is даст (athematic), not 'дади́т'. The -ди- only appears in the plural: дади́м, дади́те.
✅ Он даст мне кни́гу.
He'll give me the book.
❌ Она́ дал мне ру́чку. / Он дала́ мне ру́чку.
Incorrect — the past agrees in gender: feminine дала́ (end-stress), masculine дал. Match it to the actual subject.
✅ Она́ дала́ мне ру́чку.
She gave me a pen.
❌ Я дал кни́гу для моего́ дру́га.
Incorrect — the recipient takes the DATIVE, not 'для + genitive': дал кни́гу дру́гу. (для is for a beneficiary, not a recipient.)
✅ Я дал кни́гу дру́гу.
I gave the book to my friend.
❌ Дава́й мне соль, пожа́луйста.
Odd — for one specific handover at the table use the perfective дай. Imperfective дава́й sounds like a repeated/insistent demand here.
✅ Дай мне соль, пожа́луйста.
Pass me the salt, please.
Key Takeaways
- дава́ть (imperfective) = giving as a process / habit / repeated act; дать (perfective) = a single completed handover with a result.
- Present (дава́ть only) drops -ва- and is end-stressed: даю́, даёшь, даёт, даём, даёте, даю́т — the same pattern as встава́ть, продава́ть, узнава́ть.
- The perfective дать is athematic — its future is дам, дашь, даст, дади́м, дади́те, даду́т (no linking vowel; -д- and end-stress return in the plural). Same template as есть "to eat."
- Past: imperfective дава́л/дава́ла; perfective дал, дала́ (end-stressed feminine), да́ло, да́ли.
- Imperatives: дай / да́йте (one specific request) vs дава́й / дава́йте (habitual — and the "let's" auxiliary: Дава́й пойдём).
- Case frame: give a THING (accusative) to a PERSON (dative) — дать кни́гу дру́гу. Never для + genitive for the recipient.
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- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Aspect is the spine of the Russian verb: nearly every verb belongs to a pair — imperfective (process, repetition, general fact) and perfective (a single completed whole with a result). This page explains the pair, the consequences for the tense system (perfectives have no present), and why you must decide 'process or result?' before you even pick a tense.
- Irregular Present-Tense Verbs (хотеть, бежать, есть, дать)A2 — A small set of high-frequency verbs — хоте́ть (want), бежа́ть (run), есть (eat), дать (give), мочь (be able), печь (bake) — refuse to fit either regular conjugation: some mix endings from both, others keep ancient athematic forms, and all of them must be drilled because there is no rule to derive them from.
- Dative: The Indirect ObjectA2 — The dative's core job is the indirect object — the recipient or beneficiary, answering кому? (to whom?). The frame is subject (nom) + verb + thing (acc) + recipient (dat): Я дал дру́гу кни́гу (I gave my friend a book), Она́ написа́ла письмо́ ма́ме. The trap for English speakers is a closed list of verbs that take the dative where English uses a plain direct object — помога́ть (help), звони́ть (phone), сове́товать (advise), ве́рить (believe), меша́ть (bother), ра́доваться (be glad about) — so 'I help my brother' is Я помога́ю бра́ту (dat), not *брата.
- Let's and Third-Person Commands (давай, пусть)B1 — Russian builds commands outside the 2nd person analytically: 'let's' is дава́й(те) plus a perfective 1st-plural future (дава́й пойдём) or an imperfective infinitive (дава́йте чита́ть), or just the bare 1pl (пойдём!); 'let him/them' is the invariable пусть/пуска́й plus an ordinary present/future verb (пусть он войдёт) — there is no special verb form, which is why these structures have no single-word English equivalent.
- The Perfective (Simple) FutureA2 — The perfective future is a single word: you conjugate a perfective verb with the ordinary present-tense endings (-у/-ю, -ешь/-ишь…) and the result means the FUTURE — прочита́ю 'I'll read (and finish),' напишу́ 'I'll write,' куплю́ 'I'll buy,' позвоню́ 'I'll call.' The trap is that these forms look exactly like a present tense, but a perfective verb has no present, so a conjugated perfective is always future. It names a single completed action with a result, a promise, or one step in a sequence.
- Брать / Взять (to take)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the suppletive pair брать / взять 'to take': imperfective брать (беру́, берёшь, беру́т; past брал/брала́) versus its perfective partner взять (возьму́, возьмёшь, возьму́т; past взял/взяла́), built on two completely different roots — one of the most frequent and most irregular pairs in the language — with the imperative бери́/возьми́, the accusative government, and the everyday uses 'take, grab, get, charge'.