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SPANISH VERB

dar miedo

to scare

  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: dando miedo
  • Past participle: dado miedo

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I scare
  2. tú you scare
  3. usted, él, ella he/she scares
  4. nosotros we scare
  5. vosotros Spain you all scare
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they scare

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I scared
  2. tú you scared
  3. usted, él, ella he/she scared
  4. nosotros we scared
  5. vosotros Spain you all scared
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they scared

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to scare
  2. tú you used to scare
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to scare
  4. nosotros we used to scare
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to scare
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to scare

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will scare
  2. tú you will scare
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will scare
  4. nosotros we will scare
  5. vosotros Spain you all will scare
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will scare

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would scare
  2. tú you would scare
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would scare
  4. nosotros we would scare
  5. vosotros Spain you all would scare
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would scare

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I scare
  2. tú (that) you scare
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she scare
  4. nosotros (that) we scare
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all scare
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they scare

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I scared
  2. tú (if) you scared
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she scared
  4. nosotros (if) we scared
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all scared
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they scared

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú scare!
  2. usted scare! (formal)
  3. nosotros scare! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain scare! (all of you)
  5. ustedes scare! (all of you)

How to use dar miedo

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Me dan miedo las arañas desde niña.

    Spiders have scared me since I was a girl.

  2. Past

    Esa película nos dio mucho miedo anoche.

    That movie really scared us last night.

  3. Imperfect

    De chico me daba miedo la oscuridad.

    As a kid the dark used to scare me.

  4. Future

    El recorrido del museo no te dará miedo, es para niños.

    The museum tour won't scare you, it's for kids.

  5. Conditional

    ¿No te daría miedo vivir solo en el bosque?

    Wouldn't it scare you to live alone in the woods?

  6. Present subjunctive

    No dejes que te dé miedo hablar en público.

    Don't let speaking in public scare you.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si me diera miedo volar, viajaría en camión.

    If flying scared me, I'd travel by bus.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Da miedo de verdad en la obra, eres el fantasma!

    Really be scary in the play, you're the ghost!

Good to know

  • "Dar miedo" works like "gustar": "Me dan miedo las arañas."

Where you hear dar miedo

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Beginner Level 3

  • Me da miedo la oscuridad. The dark scares me.
  • De niña, me daban miedo las tormentas. As a girl, storms scared me.
  • Esta historia les va a dar miedo. This story is going to scare you.
17
The Lights Go Out

Beginner Level 3 · me daban miedo las tormentas · me dan miedo · me da miedo · me daba miedo

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.