Don't give me excuses

Question

Hi everyone!

I am confused about the use of (des) and (das), I made a little research, and it turnes out that (das) is used as an indicateve verb, while (des) as a subjunctive, however, I still don't get the difference between the two phrases: (No me das excusas) and (No me des excusas), like to me they both mean; don't give me excuses.

Thank you for helping!!

Now it makes sense, thanks guys! - marksteve, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 1

Hi, Mark:

This is easy. "No me das excusas." means, "You don't give me excuses."

"¡No me des ecusas!" is an informal command. "Don't give me excuses!"

To give a negative infomal (tú) command, the subjunctive is employed. OK?

Thanks Dani!! - marksteve, Dec 19, 2015

Dani, I´m not sure what an estute grammarian would say, but to avoid confusion it´s better to consider that negative imperative (tú) is not a subjunctive usage but that its conjugation happens to be the same as that of present subjunctive (tú) - 005faa61, Dec 20, 2015

I should have said that. That's what I meant. Gracias. - Daniela2041, Dec 20, 2015

Answer 2

No me das excusas ..... you are not giving / you don´t give me excuses (indicative).

No me des excusas ..... don´t give me excuses (imperative). With proper context, this could also be subjunctive as part of another sentence, ie: No quiero que me des excusas.

Thank you JulianChivi! - marksteve, Dec 19, 2015

Answer 3

As I understand it, this is a negative construction, therefore ' No me des excusas' is the correct version. The subjunctive is used for negative instructions ( don't do it type of instruction). However, the meaning of the verb ( dar--- to give ) is the same whether you use the indicative or the subjunctive.

Thanks for your contribution annierats! - marksteve, Dec 19, 2015

Like the quote! - marksteve, Dec 19, 2015