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Surely, you have heard the following expressions: "Ну ладно, давай, пока!" /All right, so long, bye!/ or "Пойдём в кино? - Давай" /Will we go to the cinema? - Let's go!/. We, Russian, like to use this word in our speech. What does the verb "давай" ("давать") mean in colloquial Russian?
I'll tell you right away that this verb has several meanings. Which of them is used is usually clear according to situation.
1. Давать = to give. Давать другу книгу (ручку, тетрадь) /To give a book (a pen, a notebook) to a friend/.
2. Давать = to publish. Давать объявление в газету (о продаже машины, например) /To publish an advertisement in a newspaper (about celling a car, for example)/.
3. Давать = to let (in both direct and figurative meanings). Мама не давала ребёнку играть со спичками (прямое значение) /Mom didn't let a child play with matches (direct meaning)/. Погода неделю не давала нам пойти погулять (переносное значение) /The weather didn't let us go for a walk for a week (figurative meaning)/.
4. Давать = to start doing. Ребенок увидел маму и давай смеяться (начал смеяться) /A child saw his mom and started laughing/. Pay attention to the form of verb! Only imperative (давай) is used in this meaning!
5. Давать = to do something the others didn't expect. Пол выучил русский язык за полгода. - Ну он даёт! /Paul learned Russian in half a year. - He sure takes the cake!/
6. Давать = to suggest help. Давай я помогу тебе перевести этот текст /Let me help you to translate this text/. Pay attention to the form of verb! Only imperative (давай) is used in this meaning!
7. Давать = to gauge person's age. Ей уже пятьдесят, но никто не даёт ей больше сорока /She is fifty already, but nobody can tell she is older/.
8. Давать = to speak about one's demands. Даёшь (даёте) честные выборы! /Fair elections!/ Pay attention to the form of verb! Only 2nd person (даёшь, даёте) is used in this meaning!
9. Давай = agreement. Пойдем в кино? - Давай /Will we go to the cinema? - Let's go/. Pay attention to the form of verb! Only imperative (давай) is used in this meaning!
10. Давай = a sigh that a talk (on the phone, for example) should be finished. Хорошо, я понял, давай. = Хорошо, я понял и хочу закончить разговор /Ok, I've got it, bye = Okay, I understood and want to finish the conversation/.
11. Давай = bye. Ну ладно, давай. = Ну ладно, пока /Ok, see ya! = Okay, bye/.
How is the verb "давать" declined? This is imperfective verb, it has present, past and future tenses.
Present tense: я даю, ты даёшь, он (она, оно) даёт, мы даём, вы даёте, они дают.
Past tense: он давал, она давала, оно давало, они давали.
Future tense: я буду давать, ты будешь давать, он (она, оно) будет давать, мы будем давать, вы будете давать, они будут давать.
Imperative: давай, давайте.
