A light verb is a verb that combines with a noun to form a single idea, where the noun does the real work and the verb just carries the grammatical weight. English has them too — take a walk, make a decision, give a speech — but Spanish uses them even more aggressively. Knowing the right light verb for each noun is a huge part of sounding idiomatic. This page covers the four most productive light verbs: hacer, dar, tener, and tomar, plus echar.
What is a light verb?
Compare these two sentences:
Juan da un paseo por el parque.
Juan takes a walk through the park.
In the first, camina is a full content verb carrying the meaning of "walk." In the second, the meaning of "walk" is inside the noun paseo, and the verb da is just there for support. Dar is the light verb; paseo is where the action lives.
Light-verb constructions often mean roughly the same thing as a single content verb, but they feel more colloquial or more natural in Spanish.
hacer: the busiest light verb
Hacer combines with dozens of nouns to form set phrases. Many are everyday expressions.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| hacer una pregunta | to ask a question |
| hacer una visita | to pay a visit |
| hacer un viaje | to take a trip |
| hacer caso | to pay attention, obey |
| hacer cola | to line up, wait in line |
| hacer daño | to hurt, harm |
| hacer falta | to be needed, lacking |
| hacer las paces | to make peace, make up |
| hacer la cama | to make the bed |
| hacer ejercicio | to exercise |
El estudiante le hizo una pregunta al profesor.
The student asked the teacher a question.
Hicimos un viaje a Costa Rica el verano pasado.
We took a trip to Costa Rica last summer.
No le hagas caso; siempre bromea.
Don't pay attention to him; he's always joking.
Notice the pattern: hacer is almost always followed by a noun phrase. The meaning of the action is in the noun.
dar: giving as doing
Dar (to give) is used for many actions that English expresses with verbs like "take" or "make."
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| dar un paseo | to take a walk |
| dar las gracias | to thank |
| dar miedo | to scare, be scary |
| dar pena | to feel sorry for, be sad |
| dar con | to find, come across |
| dar un beso | to give a kiss |
| dar un abrazo | to give a hug |
| dar un consejo | to give advice |
| dar una vuelta | to take a walk/stroll |
| dar clases | to teach classes |
Vamos a dar un paseo por la playa.
Let's take a walk on the beach.
Le di las gracias por su ayuda.
I thanked him for his help.
Las películas de terror me dan miedo.
Horror movies scare me.
Al fin di con la solución.
I finally found the solution.
Several dar phrases work like gustar — the thing in question is the subject and the person affected is the indirect object:
Me da pena verlo así.
It makes me sad to see him like this.
Los perros grandes le dan miedo.
Big dogs scare him.
tener: having as being
Tener is special: with a large set of nouns, it expresses states that English expresses with "to be + adjective."
| Phrase | English equivalent |
|---|---|
| tener hambre | to be hungry |
| tener sed | to be thirsty |
| tener sueño | to be sleepy |
| tener frío | to be cold |
| tener calor | to be hot |
| tener miedo | to be afraid |
| tener razón | to be right |
| tener prisa | to be in a hurry |
| tener suerte | to be lucky |
| tener años | to be _ years old |
| tener ganas de | to feel like |
| tener éxito | to be successful |
Tienes razón, me equivoqué.
You're right, I was wrong.
Because these nouns are acting as a kind of state, they're modified with mucho/mucha, not muy:
Tengo mucha hambre.
I'm very hungry.
Tenemos mucho frío.
We're very cold.
Saying muy hambre would be wrong because hambre is a noun; you need the adjectival mucha.
tomar: taking as doing
Tomar means "to take" but also "to drink" in Latin American Spanish. As a light verb, it combines with several action nouns.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tomar una decisión | to make a decision |
| tomar nota | to take note, write down |
| tomar café | to drink coffee, have coffee |
| tomar el sol | to sunbathe |
| tomar medidas | to take measures |
| tomar en serio | to take seriously |
| tomar partido | to take sides |
| tomar en cuenta | to take into account |
¿Quieres tomar un café conmigo?
Do you want to have a coffee with me?
Hay que tomar en cuenta su experiencia.
You have to take her experience into account.
Note that in Spain, beber is more common for drinks; in Latin America, tomar is the everyday default for both drinking and taking.
echar: throw as doing
Echar is another light verb, often used with nouns that suggest a quick or sudden action.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| echar de menos | to miss (someone/something) |
| echar un vistazo | to take a glance |
| echar una mano | to lend a hand |
| echar la culpa | to blame |
| echar a perder | to spoil, ruin |
Te echo mucho de menos.
I miss you a lot.
¿Puedo echar un vistazo?
Can I take a quick look?
Siempre le echa la culpa a los demás.
He always blames others.
In Latin America, extrañar is more common for "to miss": te extraño. Echar de menos is more common in Spain but understood everywhere.
Why light verbs matter
Light-verb constructions are deeply idiomatic. You can't predict them from word-for-word translation, and using the wrong light verb immediately sounds foreign. Consider:
Correcto: Hice una pregunta.
Correct: I asked a question.
Error: Di una pregunta. ❌
Wrong: Di una pregunta.
In English you "ask" a question, which doesn't help. In Spanish it's hacer, not dar or tomar. You just have to learn it.
Correcto: Tomé una decisión.
Correct: I made a decision.
Error: Hice una decisión. ❌
Wrong: Hice una decisión.
English uses "make"; Spanish uses tomar. Again, no logical rule — just a set phrase.
Comprehensive combined table
Here are the most frequent light-verb phrases in one place:
| Light verb | Common collocations |
|---|---|
| hacer | pregunta, viaje, visita, cola, caso, daño, falta, ejercicio, la cama, las paces |
| dar | un paseo, las gracias, miedo, pena, un beso, un abrazo, un consejo, una vuelta, clases, con |
| tener | hambre, sed, sueño, frío, calor, miedo, razón, prisa, suerte, años, ganas, éxito |
| tomar | una decisión, nota, café, el sol, medidas, en serio, en cuenta, partido |
| echar | de menos, un vistazo, una mano, la culpa, a perder |
A few more examples in action
Tengo mucha prisa, nos vemos luego.
I'm in a big hurry, see you later.
Después de hacer ejercicio, siempre tomo mucha agua.
After exercising, I always drink a lot of water.
Le di las gracias por el consejo que me dio.
I thanked her for the advice she gave me.
Nos dio pena no poder acompañarte.
We felt sorry we couldn't go with you.
Light-verb phrases don't add many new words to your vocabulary — they're built from verbs and nouns you already know. What they do is let you say things the way native speakers actually say them. Studying them pays off quickly and noticeably.
Related Topics
- Verbs of Communication (Decir, Hablar, Contar, Preguntar, Responder)A2 — How to talk about talking — and report what others say
- Transitive and Intransitive VerbsA2 — Transitive verbs take a direct object; intransitive verbs don't
- Verbs of MotionA2 — Ir, venir, salir, entrar, subir, bajar — and the small differences that trip English speakers up