dar Imperfect Conjugation
dar — to give
The imperfect of dar is regular: daba, dabas, daba, dábamos, dabais, daban.
dar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for repeated past actions or to describe how things used to be, like a teacher who used to give easy exams.
Notes on dar in the Imperfect
Dar is fully regular in the imperfect. It follows the standard -aba pattern for -ar verbs.
Example Sentences
Mi abuelo me daba caramelos a escondidas.
My grandfather used to give me candies secretly.
él/ella/usted
Antes dábamos largos paseos por la playa.
Before, we used to take long walks on the beach.
nosotros
Me daba mucho miedo la oscuridad.
The darkness used to give me a lot of fear (scare me).
yo
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'nosotros' form.
Correct: The correct form is 'dábamos'.
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'a' in the nosotros form.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: doy
Dar is mostly regular except for the 'yo' form, which is 'doy'.
Preterite
yo: di
The preterite of dar is highly irregular and short: di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron.
Future
yo: daré
The future of dar is completely regular: daré, darás, dará, daremos, daréis, darán.
Conditional
yo: daría
The conditional of dar is regular: daría, darías, daría, daríamos, daríais, darían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: dé
The present subjunctive of dar is dé, des, dé, demos, deis, den.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: diera
The imperfect subjunctive of dar uses the stem 'die-': diera, dieras, diera, diéramos, dierais, dieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: da
The imperative of dar is: da (tú), dé (usted), demos (nosotros), dad (vosotros), den (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no des
Negative commands use 'no' + present subjunctive: no des, no dé, no demos, no deis, no den.