Dar Luz v. Dar A Luz

Question

I know that "dar a luz" means to give birth, but I'm pretty sure that when I lived in Spain, I heard the phrase "dar luz" to mean the same thing. But I can't find any reference to "dar luz", while I see plenty of references to "dar a luz". Does anyone know if you can say "dar luz" for "to give birth"? Or does "dar luz" mean something totally different? (SpanishDict says it means "give light", but that's obviously a literal translation, not an idiom.)

Sé que ´´dar a luz´´ quiere decir parir a un bebé, pero mientras yo vivía en España, creo haber oído el término ´´dar luz´´ por el mismo sentido. Pero no he podido encontrar ni una referencia a ´´dar luz´´, mientras que he visto bastantes referencias a ´´dar a luz´´. ¿Sabe alguien si se puede decir ´´dar luz´´ en lugar de ´´dar a luz´´? ¿O tiene ´´dar luz´´ un significado completamente distinto? (En cuanto a ´´dar luz´´, SpanishDict indica un significado literal y no un modismo.)

Thanks! Gracias!

I mean, ¡Gracias! - sinmeta, Jan 30, 2013

Doy luz verde a estas medidas. I give the green light to these measures. - swampy, Jan 30, 2013

Answer 1

I don't know if this helps but often when people are speaking they do not enunciate clearly so da a luz could easily sound like da luz. Remember the verb Dar is probably conjugated. Also some people simply drop the a or speak so quickly that it is impossible to hear.

Based on context you should be able to tell the meaning. The dictionary give Dar luz verde as to give the green light. Very different from talking about birthing babies. But not so different about permission to make babies, if you get my drift. jajaja

As a side question: Does any native speaker know if the "a" is the personal "a" because the reference is to the birth of a person?

Good one gringojrf! - sinmeta, Jan 30, 2013

To clarily though, what I've heard is "dio luz" or "cuando ella dé luz¨, so it wouldn´t have been ¨da a luz" such that the two a's would collapse into a single sound. - sinmeta, Jan 30, 2013

Okay that is a great clarification. So my guess is they are just dropping the "a". I hear the the "a" in "ir a" dropped all the time. - gringojrf, Jan 30, 2013

Hey Gringo, no it wouldn't be the personal 'a' as it doesn't precede the direct object as there isn't one, let alone it being a 'known' person - hope that helps :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 30, 2013

Funny on the permission there gringo :) And yes, I think sometimes the a is partially or even fully swallowed. Can be very tough to discern, especially after words ending in 'a' - rogspax, Jan 30, 2013

Answer 2

I think that "dar luz" don't have much sense. To refer to give birth we use "dar a luz". The expresion "dar luz" doesn't exist in a right way, it's a bad use of the language I think.

Thanks! - sinmeta, Jan 30, 2013