dé, "dar la gana" da, dar
Learning the imperative, I am memorizing a fragment of a poem by Dámaso Alonso -> "Los consejos de tío Dámaso a Luís Cristóbal, hijito del poeta Luis Rosales."
The first paragraph which I am learning reads:
Haz lo que tengas gana,
Cristobalillo,
lo que te dé la gana,
que es lo sencillo.
I have come so far in the poem as to know where one word ends and another begins (Note: I began with listening to the poem only, but found I had to resort to looking at the written words:-( I found the meaning of the phrase "darse gana" here in the dictionary on SpanishDict.com, and my textbook translated this: "lo que te da la gana" in its appended "Vocabulario por lecciones."
But I found no explanation of why the form of "dar" in the poem should be "dé" ''?
I understand that in a positive imperative for "tú", one employs the same form as for the third person singular and that one employs the subjunctive in a negative imperative.
But the "darse la gana" here is not an imperative. The imperative is expressed in the "Haz lo que tengas gana."
What am I misunderstanding? I have not gone so far as to seek out an original copy of the poem to be sure that "dé" is not just a typo
...oh and what fun! I have now learned another expression which I hope does not apply to my post: "dar que hacer" (to give trouble) ... instead I hope to soon be permitted to "dar las gracias."
9 Answers
Thank you, this is what I now understand And you should read the poem! What doesn't tío Dámaso suggest that this little boy do!! whew! But my fragment ends on a very happy note with his suggestion that the two of them make a new world, this one being such a mess
Mark W said:
dé in this case is the subjunctive, giving the sentence more of a "whatever you like" kind of feeling. Or am I missing something?
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lazarus1907 said:
If you say "lo que te da la gana", you are implying that your know or think that someone's "gana" is giving this person something, i.e. you know there is something specific that the person wants to do, and the whole point of this expression is to say whatever you feel like, precisely because you don't know what the person feels -or will feel- like doing, so indicative would sound very strange.
Quite true when you start off with "lo que ...". On the other hand, the base idiom "dar la gana" can also be used in expressions for which the indicative is the only reasonable choice. e.g. Q: "Why don't you do it'" A: "¡Porque no me da la gana!"
If you say "lo que te da la gana", you are implying that your know or think that someone's "gana" is giving this person something, i.e. you know there is something specific that the person wants to do, and the whole point of this expression is to say whatever you feel like, precisely because you don't know what the person feels -or will feel- like doing, so indicative would sound very strange.
Yes, it would be "dé" - but I kept thinking that it should be "da" ! That was my error. I think I now know why it is "dé" instead of "da". I was never under the impression that it should be "de" because, among other reasons, I looked up the complete conjugation on SpanishDict.com and, as you point out, found no instance of "de" without the accent:.
Quentin said:
Wouldn't this be dé as you are saying that there is no "de" form of the verb dar..
lazarus1907 said:
"Dé" (= he/she gave) has an accent to differentiate it from the preposition "de" (=of). .Harán lo que les de la gana.
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dé in this case is the subjunctive, giving the sentence more of a "whatever you like" kind of feeling. Or am I missing something'
lazarus1907 said:
Harán lo que les dé la gana. No me da la gana (de) limpiar su cuarto.
Little mistake, sorry.
Wouldn't this be dé as you are saying that there is no "de" form of the verb dar..
lazarus1907 said:
"Dé" (= he/she gave) has an accent to differentiate it from the preposition "de" (=of). .Harán lo que les de la gana.
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Thank you for responding so quickly, Lazarus.
I am glad I worked up the nerve to post what I thought might be a silly question - or one, the answer to which perhaps I should have been able to figure out myself.
But it was a bit like giving up listening ...I was unable to make out any words at all! I finally just decided to give up and ask.
So thank you! for the answer, and for your patience.
Now, may I understand that "dé" is, indeed, in this case, being employed as a subjunctive third person singular? Something (not he or she, but "it" or "lo que") is the subject giving the little boy "la gana."
I see how I misunderstood the base phrase "dar algo la gana"
But I have yet to comprehend why the sentence would not instead be "Haz lo que te da la gana."
...OH WAIT!!!!! I think I see!!! the "dé" is "dé" instead of "da" because it follows that "lo que" ..the subject!!
Is that it? I realized it as I analyzed the sentence according to your explanation of what the correct expression is.
lazarus1907 said:
"Dé" (= he/she gave) has an accent to differentiate it from the preposition "de" (=of). Otherwise, it is regular. Other similar diacritic (use to differentiate) accents are:
te (=to you), té (=tea)
mi (=my), mí (=to me)
tu (=your), tú (=you)
si (=if), sí (=yes)
The expression is "Dar algo [subject] la gana (a alguien)", and not "darse":
Hago lo que me da la gana.
Haz lo que te dé la gana.
No puedes hacer lo que te dé la gana.
Hacemos lo que nos da la gana.
Harán lo que les de la gana.
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"Dé" (= he/she gave) has an accent to differentiate it from the preposition "de" (=of). Otherwise, it is regular.
Other similar diacritic (use to differentiate) accents are:
te (=to you), té (=tea)
mi (=my), mí (=to me)
tu (=your), tú (=you)
si (=if), sí (=yes)
The expression is "Dar la gana [algo - subject] (a alguien)", and not "darse":
Hago lo que me da la gana.
Haz lo que te dé la gana.
No puedes hacer lo que te dé la gana.
Hacemos lo que nos da la gana.
Harán lo que les de la gana.
No me da la gana (de) limpiar su cuarto.
