The Spanish verb dar has several meanings, including giving or handing something to someone and causing a reaction. This helps explain why it appears in so many expressions: the natural English translation depends on the whole phrase and its context. Reference: RAE/ASALE, dar.
Feelings, reactions and sensations
Spanish often uses dar with certain nouns that describe feelings, reactions or sensations, such as miedo, pena, alegría, vergüenza, rabia, asco, sueño and hambre. This is not a rule that works with every emotion.
The person experiencing the feeling is often expressed with an indirect-object pronoun: Me da miedo. — It scares me. Le dio vergüenza. — He/She felt embarrassed.
Me da vergüenza hablar en público. — I feel embarrassed about speaking in public.
- Me da miedo hablar en público. — I’m afraid of speaking in public.
- Me dan asco las cucarachas. — Cockroaches disgust me.
- Me dio alegría la buena noticia. — The good news made me happy.
- Me dio pena su enfermedad. — I felt sorry about his/her illness.
Me dio pena. can mean “It made me sad” or “I felt sorry about it”, depending on context. Notice that dio refers to the past, so the English translations use the past too.
Other expressions with dar
Dar vueltas a algo: to think something over.
Dar en el clavo: to get something exactly right, or “to hit the nail on the head”. It is more precise than simply guessing.
Diste en el clavo: ese era el problema.
You hit the nail on the head: that was the problem. Reference: RAE/ASALE, dar en el clavo.
Dar qué pensar: to give someone food for thought or arouse suspicion, depending on context.
Qué más da: what difference does it make?
Dar carta blanca: to give someone free rein or full permission to act.
Dar gato por liebre: to deceive someone by passing off something inferior as what was promised.
Esta pulsera me da buena suerte. — This bracelet brings me good luck. This expresses good fortune rather than an emotion.
Dar de alta in a hospital
Dar de alta means to discharge a patient from medical care. The person or team authorizing the discharge performs the action; the patient receives it.
- El médico le dio el alta. — The doctor discharged him/her.
- Le dieron de alta ayer. — He/She was discharged yesterday.
- Me dieron de alta. — I was discharged.
The last two examples use natural English passive constructions, while the Spanish sentences describe what others did for the patient. Reference: RAE/ASALE, alta.
These expressions are useful in general Spanish; their frequency and tone can vary by region and situation.