Can we use “dare” in this way?
How dared you speak to me like that?
Is this a correct way to use "dare"? Shouldn't we say?
How dare you speak to me like that?
grammar
New contributor
add a comment |
How dared you speak to me like that?
Is this a correct way to use "dare"? Shouldn't we say?
How dare you speak to me like that?
grammar
New contributor
add a comment |
How dared you speak to me like that?
Is this a correct way to use "dare"? Shouldn't we say?
How dare you speak to me like that?
grammar
New contributor
How dared you speak to me like that?
Is this a correct way to use "dare"? Shouldn't we say?
How dare you speak to me like that?
grammar
grammar
New contributor
New contributor
New contributor
asked 1 hour ago
Arthur HmayakyanArthur Hmayakyan
141
141
New contributor
New contributor
add a comment |
add a comment |
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
Dare is sometimes called a semi-modal verb, because it sometimes patterns like a modal, and sometimes like a normal verb.
When it patterns like a modal, it takes inversion, and "not" negation, rather than do-support ("Dare you?" "I dare not").
When it patterns like a normal verb, it takes do-support: ("He didn't dare go", "Do you dare pick it up?")
Both forms are found, and are grammatical.
Personally I am very happy with how dare you? and find how dared you? strange and awkward. But I observe in the iWeb corpus that how dared [pronoun] is slightly more common than how did [pronoun] dare.
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
add a comment |
Technically speaking, if you were complaining about how someone had spoken to you in the past, you could reasonably use past tense dared.
But idiomatically, the expression How dare you! [do/say something outrageous] is something of a "fixed expression / set phrase", and I suspect some people might have misgivings about modifying dare for tense like that. To my ear, it would be at least slightly more "natural" (though of course it can't be fully natural, given it's riffing of a "frozen form") to use...
How could you dare speak to me like that! (using could as the past tense of can)
But that's a fine point. For most purposes, OP's version (or indeed, How could you have dared...) wouldn't be noticed as either "incorrect" or "unusual".
EDIT: Or perhaps not such a "fine point" after all. Here are some relevant searches in Google Books...
How dare you say that! - 25,100 hits for the "idiomatic standard" present tense version
How could you dare say that! - 211 hits
How dared you say that! - 3 hits
How did you dare say that! - 0 hits
Note that I added the exclamation marks myself (GB doesn't do punctuation). Obviously, that could be followed by a clause (How dare you say that I'm fat!), but that would be the same for all variations, so the relative preferences should still be valid.
add a comment |
The second is correct in the present, but if it was in the past, I would say
How did you dare to speak to me like that?
add a comment |
How dared you to speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a past event.
How dare you speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a current event.
How dared you speak to me like that
is just wrong. It scrambles the time markers in what is an idiomatic construction.
EDIT: Weather Vane and I agree on the substance. And
How did you dare to speak to me like that
seems far more euphonious than "how dared you," but there is a perfectly acceptable past form of the verb "dare."
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
add a comment |
"How dare you/he/she/they [do something (present tense)]" is a set expression conveying present anger that an action is being done, has just been done, or was done in the more distant past. The tense of 'dare' does not change, nor does the tense of the verb of the action being complained about.
I come into my room. You have a glass in your hand. How dare you drink my whisky!
You tell me that your brother called me a fool yesterday. How dare he say that!
I recall that a politician, who I don't support, did a bad thing 20 years ago. How dare he do that!
Although the expression is phrased like a question, it is not one. If we wish to know how someone found the courage to do a dangerous thing in the past, we would phrase the question conventionally. We might say "How did you dare to attack the gang of thugs, armed only with a stick?", or "How did he dare to enter the lion's cage, knowing it might kill him?"
To express sorrow or anger that someone behaved badly, we could ask e.g. "How could you speak to my grandmother like that?"
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "481"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Arthur Hmayakyan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193186%2fcan-we-use-dare-in-this-way%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Dare is sometimes called a semi-modal verb, because it sometimes patterns like a modal, and sometimes like a normal verb.
When it patterns like a modal, it takes inversion, and "not" negation, rather than do-support ("Dare you?" "I dare not").
When it patterns like a normal verb, it takes do-support: ("He didn't dare go", "Do you dare pick it up?")
Both forms are found, and are grammatical.
Personally I am very happy with how dare you? and find how dared you? strange and awkward. But I observe in the iWeb corpus that how dared [pronoun] is slightly more common than how did [pronoun] dare.
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
add a comment |
Dare is sometimes called a semi-modal verb, because it sometimes patterns like a modal, and sometimes like a normal verb.
When it patterns like a modal, it takes inversion, and "not" negation, rather than do-support ("Dare you?" "I dare not").
When it patterns like a normal verb, it takes do-support: ("He didn't dare go", "Do you dare pick it up?")
Both forms are found, and are grammatical.
Personally I am very happy with how dare you? and find how dared you? strange and awkward. But I observe in the iWeb corpus that how dared [pronoun] is slightly more common than how did [pronoun] dare.
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
add a comment |
Dare is sometimes called a semi-modal verb, because it sometimes patterns like a modal, and sometimes like a normal verb.
When it patterns like a modal, it takes inversion, and "not" negation, rather than do-support ("Dare you?" "I dare not").
When it patterns like a normal verb, it takes do-support: ("He didn't dare go", "Do you dare pick it up?")
Both forms are found, and are grammatical.
Personally I am very happy with how dare you? and find how dared you? strange and awkward. But I observe in the iWeb corpus that how dared [pronoun] is slightly more common than how did [pronoun] dare.
Dare is sometimes called a semi-modal verb, because it sometimes patterns like a modal, and sometimes like a normal verb.
When it patterns like a modal, it takes inversion, and "not" negation, rather than do-support ("Dare you?" "I dare not").
When it patterns like a normal verb, it takes do-support: ("He didn't dare go", "Do you dare pick it up?")
Both forms are found, and are grammatical.
Personally I am very happy with how dare you? and find how dared you? strange and awkward. But I observe in the iWeb corpus that how dared [pronoun] is slightly more common than how did [pronoun] dare.
answered 40 mins ago
Colin FineColin Fine
28.9k24156
28.9k24156
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
add a comment |
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
I don't know about that "iWeb corpus", but my first thought was to introduce another modal (could) that would allow me to retain dare without inflection (precisely because How dare you! is a "set expression" nowadays). Perhaps iWeb could reinforce what I found from Google Books.
– FumbleFingers
12 mins ago
add a comment |
Technically speaking, if you were complaining about how someone had spoken to you in the past, you could reasonably use past tense dared.
But idiomatically, the expression How dare you! [do/say something outrageous] is something of a "fixed expression / set phrase", and I suspect some people might have misgivings about modifying dare for tense like that. To my ear, it would be at least slightly more "natural" (though of course it can't be fully natural, given it's riffing of a "frozen form") to use...
How could you dare speak to me like that! (using could as the past tense of can)
But that's a fine point. For most purposes, OP's version (or indeed, How could you have dared...) wouldn't be noticed as either "incorrect" or "unusual".
EDIT: Or perhaps not such a "fine point" after all. Here are some relevant searches in Google Books...
How dare you say that! - 25,100 hits for the "idiomatic standard" present tense version
How could you dare say that! - 211 hits
How dared you say that! - 3 hits
How did you dare say that! - 0 hits
Note that I added the exclamation marks myself (GB doesn't do punctuation). Obviously, that could be followed by a clause (How dare you say that I'm fat!), but that would be the same for all variations, so the relative preferences should still be valid.
add a comment |
Technically speaking, if you were complaining about how someone had spoken to you in the past, you could reasonably use past tense dared.
But idiomatically, the expression How dare you! [do/say something outrageous] is something of a "fixed expression / set phrase", and I suspect some people might have misgivings about modifying dare for tense like that. To my ear, it would be at least slightly more "natural" (though of course it can't be fully natural, given it's riffing of a "frozen form") to use...
How could you dare speak to me like that! (using could as the past tense of can)
But that's a fine point. For most purposes, OP's version (or indeed, How could you have dared...) wouldn't be noticed as either "incorrect" or "unusual".
EDIT: Or perhaps not such a "fine point" after all. Here are some relevant searches in Google Books...
How dare you say that! - 25,100 hits for the "idiomatic standard" present tense version
How could you dare say that! - 211 hits
How dared you say that! - 3 hits
How did you dare say that! - 0 hits
Note that I added the exclamation marks myself (GB doesn't do punctuation). Obviously, that could be followed by a clause (How dare you say that I'm fat!), but that would be the same for all variations, so the relative preferences should still be valid.
add a comment |
Technically speaking, if you were complaining about how someone had spoken to you in the past, you could reasonably use past tense dared.
But idiomatically, the expression How dare you! [do/say something outrageous] is something of a "fixed expression / set phrase", and I suspect some people might have misgivings about modifying dare for tense like that. To my ear, it would be at least slightly more "natural" (though of course it can't be fully natural, given it's riffing of a "frozen form") to use...
How could you dare speak to me like that! (using could as the past tense of can)
But that's a fine point. For most purposes, OP's version (or indeed, How could you have dared...) wouldn't be noticed as either "incorrect" or "unusual".
EDIT: Or perhaps not such a "fine point" after all. Here are some relevant searches in Google Books...
How dare you say that! - 25,100 hits for the "idiomatic standard" present tense version
How could you dare say that! - 211 hits
How dared you say that! - 3 hits
How did you dare say that! - 0 hits
Note that I added the exclamation marks myself (GB doesn't do punctuation). Obviously, that could be followed by a clause (How dare you say that I'm fat!), but that would be the same for all variations, so the relative preferences should still be valid.
Technically speaking, if you were complaining about how someone had spoken to you in the past, you could reasonably use past tense dared.
But idiomatically, the expression How dare you! [do/say something outrageous] is something of a "fixed expression / set phrase", and I suspect some people might have misgivings about modifying dare for tense like that. To my ear, it would be at least slightly more "natural" (though of course it can't be fully natural, given it's riffing of a "frozen form") to use...
How could you dare speak to me like that! (using could as the past tense of can)
But that's a fine point. For most purposes, OP's version (or indeed, How could you have dared...) wouldn't be noticed as either "incorrect" or "unusual".
EDIT: Or perhaps not such a "fine point" after all. Here are some relevant searches in Google Books...
How dare you say that! - 25,100 hits for the "idiomatic standard" present tense version
How could you dare say that! - 211 hits
How dared you say that! - 3 hits
How did you dare say that! - 0 hits
Note that I added the exclamation marks myself (GB doesn't do punctuation). Obviously, that could be followed by a clause (How dare you say that I'm fat!), but that would be the same for all variations, so the relative preferences should still be valid.
edited 25 mins ago
answered 43 mins ago
FumbleFingersFumbleFingers
44.2k154118
44.2k154118
add a comment |
add a comment |
The second is correct in the present, but if it was in the past, I would say
How did you dare to speak to me like that?
add a comment |
The second is correct in the present, but if it was in the past, I would say
How did you dare to speak to me like that?
add a comment |
The second is correct in the present, but if it was in the past, I would say
How did you dare to speak to me like that?
The second is correct in the present, but if it was in the past, I would say
How did you dare to speak to me like that?
answered 53 mins ago
Weather VaneWeather Vane
3,7641417
3,7641417
add a comment |
add a comment |
How dared you to speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a past event.
How dare you speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a current event.
How dared you speak to me like that
is just wrong. It scrambles the time markers in what is an idiomatic construction.
EDIT: Weather Vane and I agree on the substance. And
How did you dare to speak to me like that
seems far more euphonious than "how dared you," but there is a perfectly acceptable past form of the verb "dare."
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
add a comment |
How dared you to speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a past event.
How dare you speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a current event.
How dared you speak to me like that
is just wrong. It scrambles the time markers in what is an idiomatic construction.
EDIT: Weather Vane and I agree on the substance. And
How did you dare to speak to me like that
seems far more euphonious than "how dared you," but there is a perfectly acceptable past form of the verb "dare."
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
add a comment |
How dared you to speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a past event.
How dare you speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a current event.
How dared you speak to me like that
is just wrong. It scrambles the time markers in what is an idiomatic construction.
EDIT: Weather Vane and I agree on the substance. And
How did you dare to speak to me like that
seems far more euphonious than "how dared you," but there is a perfectly acceptable past form of the verb "dare."
How dared you to speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a past event.
How dare you speak to me like that
is fine. It refers to a current event.
How dared you speak to me like that
is just wrong. It scrambles the time markers in what is an idiomatic construction.
EDIT: Weather Vane and I agree on the substance. And
How did you dare to speak to me like that
seems far more euphonious than "how dared you," but there is a perfectly acceptable past form of the verb "dare."
answered 52 mins ago
Jeff MorrowJeff Morrow
9,9461125
9,9461125
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
add a comment |
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
I don't agree with much of this answer. How dared you is using dare as a modal, and in that form, it doesn't take a to infinitive (see [this])(grammaring.com/the-semi-modal-dare). On the other hand, How dared you speak to me like that is perfectly consistent time-wise, because speak is a bare infinitive, with no tense. Compare How can you speak like that? (present) vs How could you speak like that? (past).
– Colin Fine
37 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
@ColinFine: I didn't have the relevant knowledge (or terminology! :) to hand when I somewhat cautiously advanced my proposition that it doesn't feel quite right to explicitly change the tense of dare itself in this particular "remonstrance, expostulation, call-it-what-you-will". But after posting it, and seeing that there were two other answers disagreeing with what I thought, I was heartened to find what I consider "supportive data" from Google Books!
– FumbleFingers
18 mins ago
add a comment |
"How dare you/he/she/they [do something (present tense)]" is a set expression conveying present anger that an action is being done, has just been done, or was done in the more distant past. The tense of 'dare' does not change, nor does the tense of the verb of the action being complained about.
I come into my room. You have a glass in your hand. How dare you drink my whisky!
You tell me that your brother called me a fool yesterday. How dare he say that!
I recall that a politician, who I don't support, did a bad thing 20 years ago. How dare he do that!
Although the expression is phrased like a question, it is not one. If we wish to know how someone found the courage to do a dangerous thing in the past, we would phrase the question conventionally. We might say "How did you dare to attack the gang of thugs, armed only with a stick?", or "How did he dare to enter the lion's cage, knowing it might kill him?"
To express sorrow or anger that someone behaved badly, we could ask e.g. "How could you speak to my grandmother like that?"
add a comment |
"How dare you/he/she/they [do something (present tense)]" is a set expression conveying present anger that an action is being done, has just been done, or was done in the more distant past. The tense of 'dare' does not change, nor does the tense of the verb of the action being complained about.
I come into my room. You have a glass in your hand. How dare you drink my whisky!
You tell me that your brother called me a fool yesterday. How dare he say that!
I recall that a politician, who I don't support, did a bad thing 20 years ago. How dare he do that!
Although the expression is phrased like a question, it is not one. If we wish to know how someone found the courage to do a dangerous thing in the past, we would phrase the question conventionally. We might say "How did you dare to attack the gang of thugs, armed only with a stick?", or "How did he dare to enter the lion's cage, knowing it might kill him?"
To express sorrow or anger that someone behaved badly, we could ask e.g. "How could you speak to my grandmother like that?"
add a comment |
"How dare you/he/she/they [do something (present tense)]" is a set expression conveying present anger that an action is being done, has just been done, or was done in the more distant past. The tense of 'dare' does not change, nor does the tense of the verb of the action being complained about.
I come into my room. You have a glass in your hand. How dare you drink my whisky!
You tell me that your brother called me a fool yesterday. How dare he say that!
I recall that a politician, who I don't support, did a bad thing 20 years ago. How dare he do that!
Although the expression is phrased like a question, it is not one. If we wish to know how someone found the courage to do a dangerous thing in the past, we would phrase the question conventionally. We might say "How did you dare to attack the gang of thugs, armed only with a stick?", or "How did he dare to enter the lion's cage, knowing it might kill him?"
To express sorrow or anger that someone behaved badly, we could ask e.g. "How could you speak to my grandmother like that?"
"How dare you/he/she/they [do something (present tense)]" is a set expression conveying present anger that an action is being done, has just been done, or was done in the more distant past. The tense of 'dare' does not change, nor does the tense of the verb of the action being complained about.
I come into my room. You have a glass in your hand. How dare you drink my whisky!
You tell me that your brother called me a fool yesterday. How dare he say that!
I recall that a politician, who I don't support, did a bad thing 20 years ago. How dare he do that!
Although the expression is phrased like a question, it is not one. If we wish to know how someone found the courage to do a dangerous thing in the past, we would phrase the question conventionally. We might say "How did you dare to attack the gang of thugs, armed only with a stick?", or "How did he dare to enter the lion's cage, knowing it might kill him?"
To express sorrow or anger that someone behaved badly, we could ask e.g. "How could you speak to my grandmother like that?"
answered 25 mins ago
Michael HarveyMichael Harvey
13.1k11330
13.1k11330
add a comment |
add a comment |
Arthur Hmayakyan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Arthur Hmayakyan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Arthur Hmayakyan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Arthur Hmayakyan is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language Learners Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fell.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f193186%2fcan-we-use-dare-in-this-way%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
var $window = $(window),
onScroll = function(e) {
var $elem = $('.new-login-left'),
docViewTop = $window.scrollTop(),
docViewBottom = docViewTop + $window.height(),
elemTop = $elem.offset().top,
elemBottom = elemTop + $elem.height();
if ((docViewTop elemBottom)) {
StackExchange.using('gps', function() { StackExchange.gps.track('embedded_signup_form.view', { location: 'question_page' }); });
$window.unbind('scroll', onScroll);
}
};
$window.on('scroll', onScroll);
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown