Darse cuenta - To notice & to realize

Darse cuenta is a very common Spanish expression which has two different ways of being translated into English: to notice and to realize. So this is easy for you, when you want to say either of those verbs, just use the proper way of darse cuenta. Let’s see some examples:

Ella no se dio cuenta de que hacía ruido

¿Te das cuenta de lo tarde que es?

Ayer me di cuenta de que tenía que devolver estos libros a la biblioteca.

How to construct it:

(Subject) + Personal Complement + Conjugated DAR + …

The personal complement depends on the subject:

Yo	Tú	Él/Ella	Nosotros	Vosotros	Ellos/Ellas
Me	Te	Se	Nos	Os	Se

Then you have to conjugate the verb DAR according to the person and the time you need. Usually it is followed by the preposition DE; if you are using another verb (like in the first and third examples) you need one QUE.

If you are using a negative, you just need to add NO in between the subject and the personal complement:

Yo no me doy cuenta de que ronco

La gente no se dio cuenta de que el ponche no tenía alcohol

When to use it:

It is a very common expression and you can use it in every context, even in the most formal ones.

Possible mistakes:

Don’t forget to use the personal complement, dar cuentas (even when it is a plural) has a different meaning: it is used when you have to explain something to your boss or any other authority.