Verbs
Here is the next piece in my series covering common irregular present tense verbs. Today we’ll look at the verb ‘dare’. This can often be translated as ‘to give’.
A quick reminder about what a verb is – it’s a doing or action word. For example, here are two present tense verbs:
Studio Italiano – I am studying Italian
Andiamo a Roma – We are going to Rome
Italian verbs are grouped into three types, -are verbs, -ere verbs and -ire verbs. At Italy Magazine we have covered these regular present tense verbs so you can read all about them. Irregular verbs, however, don’t follow one pattern so often you just have to learn irregular verbs individually. I recently covered some common irregular verbs in my language lessons, you can read about them here: ‘fare’ (to do), ‘stare’ (to be) and ‘andare’ (to go).
Dare in more detail
So back to the verb ‘dare’ – you can see the present tense of the verb in full here:
Io do – I give
Tu dai – You give
Lui / lei dà – He / she gives
Noi diamo – We give
Voi date – You (plural) give
Loro danno – They give
Here are some sentences using the verb ‘dare’:
Io ti do un fiore – I’m giving you a flower
Mi dai un bicchiere di vino? - Can you give me a glass of wine?
L’insegnante dà molti compiti agli studenti – The teacher gives the students a lot of homework
Lei ci dà una bella opportunità – She is giving us a great opportunity
Ti diamo la chiave – We are giving you the key
Date un baccio alla mamma? – Are you giving your mum a kiss?
I bambini mi danno dei biscotti – The children give me some biscuits
Idiomatic expressions
It’s common to use idiomatic expressions in spoken Italian. These are phrases that have a meaning which is different to the literal meaning of the words in the sentence. For example, we say ‘to give someone a hand’ which means to ‘help them’ and not literally to give them one of your very own hands! Italians use this same expression ‘dare una mano’. So, ‘shall I lend you a hand’ or ‘shall I give you a hand’ would be ‘ti do una mano?’ in Italian.
Here are some more idioms with ‘dare’ that you can learn and use when speaking Italian:
Dare un’occhiata – To take a look
Dare i numeri – to go crazy
Dare fuoco – to light (a fire)
Dare carta bianca – To give carte blanche to someone / to give free rein to someone
Dare un esame – To take an exam
Dare fastidio – To annoy / to bother
Dare ai nervi / dare sui nervi – To get on someone’s nerves
Dare alla testa – To go to one’s head
Darsi delle arie – To put on airs / To show off / To be full of oneself
Dare il cinque – To give a high five
Dare per scontato – To take something or someone for granted
Darsi per vinto – To give up
