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El doctor me dio confianza, pero el precio me dio rabia.

El doctor me dio confianza, pero el precio me dio rabia.
The doctor gave me confidence, but the price made me angry.
From Lesson 265:Verbs of emotional reaction (dar)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El doctor me dio confianza, pero el precio me dio rabia.

Why is dio used with rabia instead of a verb like hizo (made)?
In Spanish, many emotional reactions are expressed using the verb dar (to give) followed by a noun, rather than saying something 'makes' you feel a certain way. So, instead of saying the price 'made me angry', you literally say it 'gave me anger' (me dio rabia).
Why is the pronoun me used in both halves of the sentence?
Me is an indirect object pronoun here, meaning 'to me'. In the dar + emotion structure, the thing causing the emotion is the subject doing the 'giving', and the person experiencing the emotion is the indirect object receiving it. The doctor gave confidence to me, and the price gave anger to me.
Why use the preterite tense dio here instead of the imperfect daba?
Dio is used because these were specific, completed reactions that happened at a distinct moment in the past, like during a single appointment or exactly when you saw the bill. If you were describing a general, ongoing feeling you used to have about the doctor over a long period, you would use daba.
Does rabia mean 'rabies'?
While it can refer to the disease in a medical context, in everyday Spanish rabia simply means 'anger' or 'fury'. The phrase dar rabia is one of the most common ways to say that something makes you angry or infuriates you.

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