Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¿Te dan nervios antes del examen?

¿Te dan nervios antes del examen?

Do you get nervous before the exam?

Breakdown of ¿Te dan nervios antes del examen?

to you / you (direct object)

el examen

exam

Questions & Answers about ¿Te dan nervios antes del examen?

Why is the verb dan in the plural form when the English translation says 'Do you get...'?

In Spanish, this expression literally translates to 'Do nerves give to you?'. The actual subject of the sentence is the plural noun nervios (nerves), so the verb must be the plural dan to match it. You use te (to you) to show who is experiencing the feeling.

If I wanted to talk about a singular feeling like fear (miedo), would the verb change?

Yes! The verb always matches the noun that follows it. If you used a singular noun like miedo, the verb would become singular: ¿Te da miedo?. Because nervios is plural, we use dan.

Could I also say ¿Te pones nervioso? to mean the same thing?

Absolutely. Both are very natural in Spanish. The difference is grammar: ponerse is used with adjectives, so you have to match the gender (nervioso or nerviosa). Dar is used with nouns, so nervios never changes its ending based on the person's gender.

Why do we use del instead of de el before examen?