Two more verbs deserve their own page: dar (to give) and ver (to see). Both have preterite forms that are almost regular, but with one peculiar detail — they do not take any written accents, even where you would normally expect them. The reason is simple: their forms are one-syllable words that do not need an accent to mark stress.
dar
Dar is an -ar verb, but it refuses to use -ar endings in the preterite. Instead, it borrows the -er/-ir endings — and drops the written accents.
| Subject | dar |
|---|---|
| yo | di |
| tú | diste |
| él / ella / usted | dio |
| nosotros / nosotras | dimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | dieron |
Compare with the regular -er verb comer:
| Subject | comer | dar |
|---|---|---|
| yo | comí | di |
| tú | comiste | diste |
| él / ella / usted | comió | dio |
| nosotros / nosotras | comimos | dimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | comieron | dieron |
Notice that dar takes the -er/-ir endings but loses the accents because di and dio are only one syllable each.
Él nos dio las gracias.
He thanked us.
Mis padres me dieron buenos consejos.
My parents gave me good advice.
ver
Ver is an -er verb, and it takes the expected -er/-ir preterite endings — but like dar, it also has no written accents in the preterite.
| Subject | ver |
|---|---|
| yo | vi |
| tú | viste |
| él / ella / usted | vio |
| nosotros / nosotras | vimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | vieron |
Vi la película la semana pasada.
I saw the movie last week.
¿Viste a Carlos en la fiesta?
Did you see Carlos at the party?
Vimos un arco iris después de la lluvia.
We saw a rainbow after the rain.
Why No Accents?
Spanish normally writes an accent on the yo (-í) and él/ella/usted (-ió) forms of the preterite to mark stress on the final syllable. But if a word is only one syllable long, there is nothing to contrast — stress falls on the only syllable. Modern spelling rules (since 1999) say that these monosyllabic forms simply do not need a written accent.
The affected forms are:
- di, dio (from dar)
- vi, vio (from ver)
- fui, fue (from ser / ir)
None of them take an accent in modern Spanish. In older texts and some handwriting you may still see dió, vió, or fué, but these spellings are now considered outdated.
Common Uses
Both verbs appear constantly in everyday Spanish, and their preterite forms are worth overlearning.
Nunca le di mi número de teléfono.
I never gave him my phone number.
No te vi en clase hoy.
I did not see you in class today.
A particularly common pattern is dar + a noun that expresses an action: dar un paseo (to take a walk), dar las gracias (to say thanks), dar un abrazo (to give a hug). In the preterite, these become dio un paseo, dio las gracias, dio un abrazo.
Ella le dio un abrazo muy fuerte.
She gave him a very big hug.
Quick Comparison
| Subject | dar | ver | ser / ir |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | di | vi | fui |
| tú | diste | viste | fuiste |
| él / ella / usted | dio | vio | fue |
| nosotros / nosotras | dimos | vimos | fuimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | dieron | vieron | fueron |
Common mistakes
❌ Yo dí un regalo a mi mamá.
Wrong: di is one syllable and takes no accent.
✅ Yo di un regalo a mi mamá.
Correct: monosyllabic preterite forms have no accent.
❌ Él dió las gracias.
Wrong: dio is one syllable — no accent needed.
✅ Él dio las gracias.
Correct: modern spelling drops the accent on dio.
❌ Yo ví la película ayer.
Wrong: vi is one syllable — no accent.
✅ Yo vi la película ayer.
Correct: vi and vio are written without accents.
❌ Ella da el regalo ayer.
Wrong: using the present tense for a past action.
✅ Ella dio el regalo ayer.
Correct: use the preterite for completed past events.
Related Topics
- Ser and Ir (Identical Forms)A2 — Ser and ir share exactly the same preterite forms — fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron — and context alone distinguishes them.
- Regular -er and -ir VerbsA2 — Regular -er and -ir verbs share one set of preterite endings: -í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron.
- Regular -ar VerbsA2 — Regular -ar verbs in the preterite take the endings -é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron, with written accents on the yo and él forms.