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Nos da miedo esconder el botín.

Nos da miedo esconder el botín.
It scares us to hide the loot.
From Lesson 305:Past conjecture (habría)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of Nos da miedo esconder el botín.

el miedo
the fear
dar
to give
nos
to us
esconder
to hide
el botín
the loot

Questions & Answers about Nos da miedo esconder el botín.

Why do we use da here instead of damos since the sentence is about "us"?
This sentence uses a structure similar to gustar. The literal translation is "Hiding the loot gives fear to us." The subject of the sentence is the action esconder el botín (hiding the loot), which functions as a singular concept. Therefore, the verb dar is conjugated in the third-person singular as da, and nos is the indirect object pronoun meaning "to us."
Why is esconder left in the infinitive instead of using the subjunctive?
When the person experiencing the emotion (us) is the exact same person performing the action (hiding the loot), Spanish uses the infinitive. If someone else were hiding the loot, you would need que plus the subjunctive. For example: Nos da miedo que escondan el botín (It scares us that they are hiding the loot).
Does botín have any other meanings besides "loot"?
Yes! While it commonly means "loot," "booty," or "spoils" in the context of a robbery or heist, botín is also a very common word for a type of footwear: an ankle boot.
How could I emphasize that it scares us to hide the loot?
To add emphasis or contrast (like saying "It scares us to hide the loot, but not them"), you can add the prepositional phrase A nosotros at the beginning of the sentence: A nosotros nos da miedo esconder el botín.

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