dañe

Dañe is a Spanish verb form from dañar (to damage, to harm). It represents the present subjunctive of dañar, and is also the formal second-person singular imperative (usted) form of the same verb. The same form dañe can be used for yo (first person singular) in the present subjunctive, though in everyday speech the yo form dañe is rare and appears mainly in formal or literary contexts.

In grammar, dañe appears in subordinate clauses that express doubt, desire, necessity, emotion, or possibility, typically introduced by que, para que, antes de que, or sin que. It is also used as a polite command or instruction in formal address: dañe is the form you would encounter in written prescriptions or formal communication where usted is the subject. The opposite, daña, is the indicative present form used for factual statements about damage.

Common usages include phrases like: Es necesario que no dañe el material durante el transporte; Espero que no dañe la pintura; No dañe las muestras. In negative commands directed at a formal audience, you would see: No dañe esos archivos, por favor. Dañe, like other subjunctive forms, is not used in ordinary casual speech where daña or dañaría might appear instead, depending on the intended mood.

Etymologically, dañar derives from Latin damnum (harm, damage) and evolved into Spanish dañar, with dañe as part of its subjunctive and formal-imperative forms. The word is used in both everyday and formal Spanish, with its meaning tied to causing damage or harm.