dare vs dared

[Tan Elaine]

1. Peter dared to fight with Paul because the latter was smaller in size.

2. Paul dare/dared not fight with Peter because the latter was much bigger in size.

I believe sentence 1 is correct. For sentence 2 which word in bold should I use?

Thanks.

[Hedwig]

1. Peter dared to fight with Paul because the latter was smaller in size.

2. Paul dare/dared not fight with Peter because the latter was much bigger in size.

I believe sentence 1 is correct. For sentence which word in bold should I use?

Thanks.

Dare in sentence 2 does not agree with was, which is in the past tense, so dare not fight is correct.
Notice that dare in this construction is used as a modal verb. If you wrote "Paul did not dare", which is also correct, you'd be using the infinitive form because the past tense is taken care of by the auxiliary did.

I'm not a teacher

[konungursvia]

Dare in sentence 2 does not agree with was, which is in the past tense, so dare not fight is correct.
Notice that dare in this construction is used as a modal verb. If you wrote "Paul did not dare", which is also correct, you'd be using the infinitive form because the past tense is taken care of by the auxiliary did.

I'm not a teacher

I'm not sure I agree with this. First of all (I hate how that sounds too strong these days) we are dealing with an archaic or older form, which doesn't find itself easily solved by what we hear today.

'He dare not fight' is in the present tense, although it may also be a form of subjunctive in some cases. I wouldn't use it with a past tense complement. To do so, it would be better with a conditional, 'He would not dare/would never dare to fight..."

'He dared not fight' is in the past, so that one agrees with the complement better in my opinion. Much better.

[5jj]

'Dare', as a modal, is a messy verb. It is best avoided

[emsr2d2]

I agree that dare/dared needs to agree with the rest of the sentence.

Paul dared not fight John because the latter was much bigger.
Paul dare not fight John because the latter is much bigger.

[Hedwig]

I'm not sure I agree with this. First of all (I hate how that sounds too strong these days) we are dealing with an archaic or older form, which doesn't find itself easily solved by what we hear today.

'He dare not fight' is in the present tense, although it may also be a form of subjunctive in some cases. I wouldn't use it with a past tense complement. To do so, it would be better with a conditional, 'He would not dare/would never dare to fight..."

'He dared not fight' is in the past, so that one agrees with the complement better in my opinion. Much better.

I read your post three times and couldn't find how we disagreed. Then I noticed my typo. Of course! I'm asking for tense agreement here and then I go and type dare without the final d.

[konungursvia]

I read your post three times and couldn't find how we disagreed. Then I noticed my typo. Of course! I'm asking for tense agreement here and then I go and type dare without the final d.

That's what I thought. Say, if I come to Argentina, can you show me around?

[Hedwig]

I'd be honoured.

[Tan Elaine]

Just wondering if it is different if the verb is used in the positive.

Paul dare/dares to fight with John although the latter is much bigger. (I notice that 'in size' is not needed as pointed out by Emsr2d2)

In this case, I guess 'dares' is correct. I hope I am right.

Thanks.

[konungursvia]

You can, Elaine, but it is seen as redundant. We usually say:

"Paul fights with John despite the latter's size."