Danish verbs are, in many ways, the simplest part of Danish grammar. Like the other Scandinavian languages, Danish does not conjugate verbs based on person or number — the same form is used for "I", "you", "he", "we", and "they" within the same tense. The tense system itself is compact and logical: present, past, perfect, pluperfect, future, and conditional, formed through a combination of suffixes and auxiliary verbs. This guide walks through all of them clearly, with examples and the patterns you need to handle Danish verbs with confidence.
The Infinitive
The infinitive (dictionary/base form) of a Danish verb almost always ends in -e:
- tale — to speak
- købe — to buy
- læse — to read
- skrive — to write
- bo — to live (rare exception: no -e)
The infinitive is preceded by at when it follows a verb or preposition (equivalent to English "to"):
- Jeg vil gerne lære dansk. — I would like to learn Danish.
- Det er svært at forstå. — It is difficult to understand.
Danish Verb Groups
Danish verbs are divided into two main groups of weak verbs (forming past with a suffix) and a collection of strong/irregular verbs (forming past by vowel change or other irregularity).
Weak Verbs: Group 1 (-ede / -et)
Group 1 verbs are infinitives ending in a consonant or a short vowel + consonant. They form the past tense with -ede and the past participle with -et:
- tale — talede — talt — spoke
- åbne — åbnede — åbnet — opened
- arbejde — arbejdede — arbejdet — worked
- spørge — spurgte — spurgt — asked (irregular within group)
- følge — fulgte — fulgt — followed
- Han talede med sin chef i går. — He spoke with his boss yesterday.
- Vi arbejdede hele dagen. — We worked all day.
Weak Verbs: Group 2 (-te / -t)
Group 2 verbs form the past with -te and past participle with -t. These often have shorter stems:
- købe — købte — købt — bought
- læse — læste — læst — read
- høre — hørte — hørt — heard
- møde — mødte — mødt — met
- tro — troede — troet — believed
- bo — boede — boet — lived
- Jeg købte en ny cykel. — I bought a new bicycle.
- De mødte hinanden i København. — They met each other in Copenhagen.
The Present Tense (Nutid)
The present tense is formed by adding -r to the infinitive stem (the infinitive without its final -e, or in some cases the full infinitive + -r):
- tale — taler — speaks/is speaking
- købe — køber — buys
- læse — læser — reads
- bo — bor — lives
- skrive — skriver — writes
Every person uses the same form:
- Jeg taler dansk. — I speak Danish.
- Du taler dansk. — You speak Danish.
- Hun taler dansk. — She speaks Danish.
- Vi taler dansk. — We speak Danish.
The present tense covers both simple present and present continuous in Danish:
- Han læser en bog. — He reads a book / He is reading a book.
It is also used for future events with a time expression:
- Vi rejser i morgen. — We're travelling tomorrow.
The Past Tense (Datid / Imperfektum)
The past tense uses the endings described above (-ede or -te for weak verbs; vowel change for strong verbs):
Weak verbs:
- Jeg talede med ham. — I spoke with him.
- Hun købte et hus. — She bought a house.
- De boede i Aarhus. — They lived in Aarhus.
Strong verbs change their stem vowel. Here are the most important:
- være — var — was/were
- have — havde — had
- gøre — gjorde — did/made
- gå — gik — went
- komme — kom — came
- se — så — saw
- tage — tog — took
- give — gav — gave
- få — fik — got
- blive — blev — became/stayed
- vide — vidste — knew
- sige — sagde — said
- skrive — skrev — wrote
- drikke — drak — drank
- finde — fandt — found
- sidde — sad — sat
- ligge — lå — lay
- stå — stod — stood
- hedde — hed — was called
- holde — holdt — held/stopped
- Han gik til stationen. — He went to the station.
- Vi fik en besked. — We received a message.
- Det blev sent. — It became late.
The Perfect Tense (Perfektum)
The perfect tense expresses a past action with present relevance. It is formed with:
har (have/has) + past participle
- tale — talt — har talt
- købe — købt — har købt
- bo — boet — har boet
- skrive — skrevet — har skrevet
- gå — gået — har gået
- se — set — har set
- tage — taget — har taget
- give — givet — har givet
- blive — blevet — har/er blevet
- komme — kommet — er kommet
- gå — gået — er gået
Note: verbs of movement and state change often use er instead of har in the perfect:
- Han er kommet. — He has come/arrived.
- Vi er gået. — We have left/gone.
- Hun er blevet syg. — She has become ill.
Har is used with most action verbs:
- Jeg har talt med ham. — I have spoken with him.
- De har købt et nyt hus. — They have bought a new house.
- Har du set den film? — Have you seen that film?
The Pluperfect (Pluskvamperfektum)
The pluperfect (past before past) is formed with:
havde + past participle (or var for motion/state verbs)
- Jeg havde allerede spist, da han ankom. — I had already eaten when he arrived.
- De havde boet der i fem år. — They had lived there for five years.
- Han var kommet, inden vi ankom. — He had arrived before we got there.
- Hun var blevet træt af det. — She had become tired of it.
The Future Tense
Danish uses several constructions for the future:
1. Vil + Infinitive (Will)
The most neutral future, expressing intention or prediction:
- Jeg vil ringe til dig i morgen. — I will call you tomorrow.
- Det vil tage lang tid. — It will take a long time.
Note: vil also means "want to", so context matters:
- Jeg vil gerne have kaffe. — I would like to have coffee. (desire)
- Det vil blive koldt. — It will become cold. (prediction)
2. Kommer til at + Infinitive
Used for predictions, often unavoidable or expected outcomes:
- Det kommer til at regne. — It's going to rain.
- Han kommer til at blive en god læge. — He's going to become a good doctor.
3. Skal + Infinitive (Shall / Is Supposed To)
Expresses arrangement, obligation, or plan:
- Vi skal mødes på fredag. — We're going to meet on Friday.
- Du skal ikke bekymre dig. — You shouldn't worry.
4. Present Tense with Future Time Word
Very natural in spoken Danish:
- Vi rejser i morgen. — We're travelling tomorrow.
- Han kommer på lørdag. — He's coming on Saturday.
The Conditional (Konditionalis)
The conditional expresses what would happen. It uses:
ville + infinitive
- Jeg ville gerne komme, men jeg har ikke tid. — I would like to come, but I don't have time.
- Det ville være dejligt. — That would be lovely.
- Hvad ville du gøre? — What would you do?
Conditional perfect ("would have") uses ville have + past participle:
- Jeg ville have ringet, men jeg glemte det. — I would have called, but I forgot.
- Det ville have været sjovt. — It would have been fun.
The Imperative (Bydeform)
The imperative (command form) is simply the verb stem — the infinitive without its final -e:
- tale — tal! — speak!
- komme — kom! — come!
- gå — gå! — go!
- sætte — sæt! — put!
- lukke — luk! — close!
- vente — vent! — wait!
- hjælpe — hjælp! — help!
- Vent her! — Wait here!
- Luk døren! — Close the door!
- Kom ind! — Come in!
Modal Verbs
Danish modal verbs work like English modals — they precede the bare infinitive (no at):
- kan — kunne — can/be able to
- vil — ville — will/want to
- skal — skulle — shall/must/be supposed to
- må — måtte — may/must
- bør — burde — should/ought to
- tør — turde — dare
- Jeg kan tale dansk. — I can speak Danish.
- Hun skal arbejde i morgen. — She has to work tomorrow.
- Vi må ikke ryge her. — We must not smoke here.
- Du bør sove tidligt. — You should sleep early.
Modal verbs in the past tense:
- Jeg kunne ikke komme. — I couldn't come.
- Han ville ikke spise. — He didn't want to eat.
- De skulle mødes klokken otte. — They were supposed to meet at eight.
Negation with Verbs
The negation word ikke (not) comes after the finite verb:
- Jeg taler ikke dansk. — I don't speak Danish.
- Hun kom ikke. — She didn't come.
- Vi har ikke set ham. — We haven't seen him.
In subordinate clauses, ikke moves before the verb:
- Jeg ved, at han ikke kommer. — I know that he isn't coming.
- Det er mærkeligt, at vi ikke har hørt fra ham. — It's strange that we haven't heard from him.
Quick Reference: Tense Summary
- Present — infinitive stem + -r — taler (speaks)
- Past (Group 1) — stem + -ede — talede (spoke)
- Past (Group 2) — stem + -te — købte (bought)
- Past (strong) — vowel change — gik (went)
- Perfect — har/er + past participle — har talt (has spoken)
- Pluperfect — havde/var + past participle — havde talt (had spoken)
- Future — vil + infinitive — vil tale (will speak)
- Future (plan) — skal + infinitive — skal tale
- Conditional — ville + infinitive — ville tale (would speak)
- Imperative — verb stem — tal! (speak!)
Danish verbs reward steady learning. The lack of person-based conjugation removes a huge layer of complexity, and the tense system is more regular than many learners expect. Learn the two weak verb groups and the 20 most common strong verbs, and you'll be able to navigate past, present, and future in Danish with confidence. Held og lykke!