dare
verb /deə(r)/
/der/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they dare | /deə(r)/ /der/ |
| he / she / it dares | /deəz/ /derz/ |
| past simple dared | /deəd/ /derd/ |
| past participle dared | /deəd/ /derd/ |
| -ing form daring | /ˈdeərɪŋ/ /ˈderɪŋ/ |
- (not usually used in the progressive tenses) to be brave enough to do something
- She said it as loudly as she dared.
- dare (to) do something He didn’t dare (to) say what he thought.
- They daren't ask for any more money.
- (literary) She dared not breathe a word of it to anybody.
- Dare to be different!
- There was something, dare I say it, a little unusual about him.
Grammar Point daredare- Dare (sense 1) usually forms negatives and questions like an ordinary verb and is followed by an infinitive with to. It is most common in the negative:
- I didn’t dare to ask.
- He won’t dare to break his promise.
- You told him? How did you dare?
- I hardly dared to hope she’d remember me.
- She wasn’t afraid (= she dared) to tell him the truth.
- It can also be used like a modal verb especially in present tense negative forms in British English, and is followed by an infinitive without to:
- I daren’t tell her the truth.
- In spoken English, the forms of the ordinary verb are often used with an infinitive without to:
- Don’t you dare tell her what I said!
- I didn’t dare look at him.
Extra ExamplesTopics Personal qualitiesb2- I hardly dared breathe.
- I wouldn't dare go by myself.
- He didn't dare (to) say what he thought.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- barely
- hardly
- scarcely
- …
- wouldn’t
- [transitive] to persuade somebody to do something dangerous, difficult or embarrassing so that they can show that they are not afraid
- dare somebody Go on! Take it! I dare you.
- dare somebody to do something Some of the older boys had dared him to do it.
Grammar Point modal verbsmodal verbsTopics Dangerc1- The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would. Dare, need, have to and used to also share some of the features of modal verbs.
- Modal verbs have only one form. They have no -ing or -ed forms and do not add -s to the 3rd person singular form:
- He can speak three languages.
- She will try and visit tomorrow.
- Modal verbs are followed by the infinitive of another verb without to. The exceptions are ought to, have to and used to:
- You must find a job.
- You ought to stop smoking.
- I used to smoke but I gave up two years ago.
- Questions are formed without do/does in the present, or did in the past:
- Can I invite Mary?
- Should I have invited Mary?
- Negative sentences are formed with not or the short form -n’t and do not use do/does or did.
Word OriginOld English durran, of Germanic origin; related to Gothic gadaursan, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek tharsein and Sanskrit dhṛṣ- ‘be bold’.
Idioms
don’t you dare!
- (informal) used to tell somebody strongly not to do something
- ‘I'll tell her about it.’ ‘Don't you dare!’
- Don't you dare say anything to anybody.
how dare you, etc.
- used to show that you are angry about something that somebody has done
- How dare you talk to me like that?
- How dare she imply that I was lying?
I dare say
(also I daresay especially in British English)
- used when you are saying that something is likely
- I dare say you know about it already.