Dar Ganas De in Spanish: How to Use This Expression?

Ganas de means “the urge to” or “feeling like” doing something. Tengo ganas de comer tacos is “I feel like eating tacos.” Dar ganas de names what caused the urge: esta canción me da ganas de bailar, “this song makes me want to dance.” Con ganas means doing something eagerly, with real energy.

This lesson comes from Speak Better Spanish, live one-to-one Spanish coaching for adults with Hannah, Arturo and Jacky. Rated 5.0 on Google. Get a free speaking plan →

Updated November 1, 2026

Key Takeaways

• Ganas means desire, urge or motivation, and in this sense it is almost always plural: tengo ganas, not tengo gana.
• Tener ganas de plus a verb or a noun is how you say “I feel like” in Spanish. Me siento como does not work here.
• Dar ganas de works like gustar: the cause is the subject, so esta canción me da ganas but estas canciones me dan ganas.
• Con ganas means eagerly, de mala gana means reluctantly, and échale ganas is Mexico’s everyday “give it your all.”
• For food and small cravings, Mexicans often say se me antoja instead: se me antoja un café.

What does ganas de mean in English?

There is no single English word for ganas, and “ganas in english” is the search that brings the most people to this page. Searches like it brought our site more than 7,000 Google impressions in the last three months. The closest translations are desire, urge, wish and motivation. WordReference lists gana as a feminine noun used mostly in the plural.

Ganas de adds the thing you want: ganas de dormir (the urge to sleep), ganas de verte (wanting to see you), ganas de un café (feeling like a coffee). The word rarely travels alone. It almost always comes with tener, dar or, in Mexico, echar.

Say it GAH-nahs deh. Both a sounds are open, like the a in “father,” and the s at the end stays a clean s.

Ganas is one of those expressions that we just don’t quite have an equivalent for in English. And it’s really fun to play around with.

Hannah Pinkerton, Speak Better Spanish coach

Is ganas also a form of ganar?

Yes, and that trips people up when they look the word up. Ganas is also the tú form of ganar, to win or to earn. ¿Cuánto ganas? means “How much do you earn?” and tú ganas means “you win.” If you see tener, dar or de right next to it, you are looking at the noun.

How do you use tener ganas de?

Tener ganas de is the everyday way to say “I feel like” or “I want to.” Conjugate tener, then add a verb in the infinitive or a noun.

That last row matters. When what you want is an event or someone else’s action, use de que plus the subjunctive: tengo ganas de que me llames, I’m hoping you’ll call me. For more everyday phrases built the same way, see our list of popular expressions with tener.

The sentence I correct most on this topic is me siento como comer tacos. That’s English thinking dressed in Spanish words. In Spanish you don’t feel like something, you have ganas of it. Once that clicks, students stop translating the sentence in their heads before they say it.

Hannah Pinkerton, Speak Better Spanish coach

What does ganas de verte mean?

Tengo ganas de verte means “I want to see you” or “I’ve been wanting to see you.” Friends, family and partners all say it, and it sounds warm, not intense. Be careful with tengo ganas de ti, though. With a person and no verb, it means “I want you” in the romantic or physical sense, so save it for your partner.

What does dar ganas de mean?

Dar ganas de means “to make someone feel like” doing something. Instead of saying what you want, you say what put the idea in your head. Este calor me da ganas de nadar: this heat makes me want to swim. Me dieron ganas de llorar: it made me want to cry.

The structure works like gustar. The cause is the subject, the person goes in the pronoun (me, te, le, nos, les), and dar agrees with the cause. If me gusta vs. me gustan already makes sense to you, this will too.

When no cause is named, you will hear both me dan ganas and me da ganas from native speakers. Once you name the cause, match the verb to it.

I tell students to look for who is doing the giving. In esta película me da ganas de llorar, the movie is giving you the feeling, so the verb follows the movie. It’s the same logic as me gusta, and once you hear it in a real conversation you don’t need a chart for it.

Arturo De León Gómez, Speak Better Spanish coach

Dar builds a lot of feeling expressions this way: me da pena (I’m embarrassed), me da miedo (it scares me), me da igual (I don’t mind either way). Another one learners need early is darse cuenta de, to realize.

What is the difference between tener ganas de and dar ganas de?

Tener ganas de is about you and what you want. Dar ganas de points at whatever caused the feeling. The same moment can go either way: tengo ganas de un helado (I feel like an ice cream) or este calor me da ganas de un helado (this heat makes me want an ice cream). Use tener when the reason doesn’t matter and dar when it does.

What does con ganas mean?

Con ganas means with enthusiasm, with appetite or with real effort. Comió con ganas: he ate hungrily. Lo hizo con ganas: she put her heart into it. It also describes weather and noise: está lloviendo con ganas, it’s really pouring.

The opposite is de mala gana, reluctantly or grudgingly: lavó los platos de mala gana. De buena gana means willingly. Notice that these two use the singular gana. Sin ganas means half-heartedly, or without much appetite.

What does échale ganas mean in Mexico?

Échale ganas literally means “throw some desire at it,” and it is how Mexicans say “give it your all,” “hang in there” or “you’ve got this.” Parents say it before exams, friends text it before a job interview, and the whole family says it at a soccer game. To a group, say échenle ganas. To someone you address as usted, say échele ganas. We would say the same to anyone asking if they are too old to learn Spanish.

Other everyday ganas phrases

• Me muero de ganas de…: I’m dying to… (me muero de ganas de conocerte, I can’t wait to meet you).
• ¡Qué ganas de…!: I’d love to… (¡qué ganas de ir a la playa!). Said about someone else it can be sarcastic: qué ganas de complicarse, why make things so hard?
• Quedarse con las ganas: to miss out, to be left wanting (me quedé con las ganas de probar el mole).
• Ni ganas: not even tempted. ¿Vas a correr hoy? Ni ganas.
• Ganas no me faltan: it’s not that I don’t want to. The will is there, something else is missing.

What does dar la gana mean, and is it rude?

Dar la gana, with the singular gana, means to want to, but with attitude. Hago lo que me da la gana is “I do whatever I want.” No me da la gana is a flat “I don’t want to,” with no apology attached. Among close friends it can be playful. With a boss, a stranger or a landlord it sounds defiant, and no me da la real gana is stronger still. If you are only tired or not in the mood, say no tengo ganas. When that is how you feel about studying, here is how to stay motivated learning Spanish.

How else can you say “I feel like” in Spanish?

Se me antoja deserves a note because Mexicans use it constantly for food: ¿se te antojan unos tacos? Do you feel like some tacos? It follows the same pronoun-first pattern as se me hace que. Tener ganas works too, but se me antoja sounds more local. For more phrases like this, see Mexican expressions you hear every day.

What mistakes do learners make with ganas?

• Me siento como comer tacos. English “feel like” doesn’t translate word for word. Say tengo ganas de comer tacos.
• Tengo gana. For desire, keep it plural: tengo ganas.
• Estas canciones me da ganas. With more than one cause, the verb goes plural: me dan ganas.
• Tengo ganas de ti said to a friend. Say tengo ganas de verte instead.
• No me da la gana when you only mean you’re tired. Use no tengo ganas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Ganas covers a feeling English needs several words for. Use tener ganas de for what you want, dar ganas de for what made you want it, and con ganas for doing something with energy. Add échale ganas and se me antoja, and you will sound like you learned your Spanish in Mexico.

If you know tengo ganas de on paper but me siento como still slips out mid-conversation, that is the habit a coach catches in real time. Book a free Spanish roadmap session and a coach will listen to you speak and plan your next steps, or see how real-life Mexican Spanish coaching works.

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