Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to give" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

давать

Meaning: to give, to let, to allow

Pronunciation: [dah-VAHT']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #153 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Учи́тель до́лжен дава́ть зна́ния.
A teacher must give knowledge.
Он бо́льше не бу́дет дава́ть конце́рты.
He will not give concerts any longer.
Я даю́ тебе́ кни́гу.
I'm giving you a book. (informal)
Продаве́ц даёт мне сда́чу.
The salesman is giving me the change.
Она́ лю́бит дава́ть сове́ты.
She loves to give advice.
В кафе́ дава́ли о́чень вку́сный чай.
The café was serving very delicious tea.
literal In café, they were giving very delicious tea.
Не дава́йте де́тям спи́чки.
Don't give matches to children.
Не дава́йте ей пла́кать.
Don't let her cry.
Ему́ не да́ли поду́мать.
They didn't let him think.
Боль не дава́ла спать по ноча́м.
The pain did not allow to sleep at night.
Ла́мпа дава́ла я́ркий свет.
The lamp gave bright light.
Актёр бу́дет дава́ть авто́графы по́сле обе́да.
The actor will be giving autographs after lunch.

Idioms and set expressions:

дава́ть в долг = to lend
literal to give in debt
дава́ть взаймы́ = to lend
literal to give on loan
дава́ть сло́во = to give one's word
не дава́ть поко́я = to give no rest; to haunt
дава́ть на чай = to tip
literal to give for tea
дава́ть кому-либо взя́тку = to bribe smb.
не дава́ть себя́ в оби́ду = to be able to stand for oneself
literal not to give oneself in offence

Proverbs and sayings:

В долг давать -- дружбу терять.
Short debts make long friends.
Дают -- бери, бьют -- беги.
Get anything given -- run being beaten.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	даю́
you (singular)	даёшь
he, she, it	даёт
we	даём
you (plural)	даёте
they	даю́т

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	дава́л
she	дава́ла
it	дава́ло
we, you (plural), they	дава́ли

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb давать is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb дать instead.

Future Compound Tense

I	буду дава́ть
you (singular)	будешь дава́ть
he, she, it	будет дава́ть
we	будем дава́ть
you (plural)	будете дава́ть
they	будут дава́ть

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	дава́й
you (plural)	дава́йте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair давать/дать

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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