VERBS

General: a. Verbs are not conjugated in persons only in tenses.

b. In a dictionary verbs are found in the infinitive form.
c. The infinitive ends normally in -e
but words consisting of one syllable and ending with an
unstressed vowel
do not add -e.
d. If the infinitive does not end in -e
then the infinitive and the base form are the same: bo (live), g
(go), se (see)
e. Base form (or stem) is infinitive without -e:
syng (=synge minus -e) (sing).

1. Present Tense
is formed by adding -r to the infinitive in all persons:
infinitive: synge + -r = synger (sing/sings)
jeg/du/han/vi/I/de synger

(I/you/he/we/they sing/sings)

infinitive: bo, st + -r = bor, str (live/lives, stand/stands)

Usage: The present tense is used as in English, but it is also used as the
future tense:
jeg kommer i morgen (I shall come tomorrow)
The progressive form (-ing form) in English
can in Danish be expressed in different ways, eg.:
a. present tense: han lser (he is reading)

b. periphrastic construction with:

sidder/str/ligger og + present tense:
han sidder og lser (he is reading)
c. periphrastic construction with:
er ved at + infinitive:
han er ved at lse (he is reading)
2. Past Tense
there are 2 regular conjugations (see also Present perfect):
a. Regular conjugation, group I (the biggest group):
Base form + -ede (the same in all persons):
husk, lav = huskede (remembered), lavede (made)
bo, vask = boede (lived), vaskede (washed)
b. Regular conjugation, group II:
Base form + -te (the same in all persons):
ls, spis = lste (read), spiste (ate)
kb, vis = kbte (bought), viste (showed)
c. Irregular conjugation:
var (was/were), s (saw), gik (went),
sagde (pronounced (s) (said),
Usage: The past tense is used as in English.
The progressive form (-ing form) in English
can in Danish be expressed in different ways, eg.:
a. past tense: han lste (he was reading)
b. periphrastic construction with:
sad/stod/l og + present tense:
han sad og lste (he was reading)
c. periphrastic construction with:
var ved at + infinitive:
han var ved at lse (he was reading)

3. Present Perfect
is formed with har or er before the past participle (see past
participle):
jeg har kbt et hus (I have bought a house)
jeg er get i seng (I have gone to bed)
Usage: The present tense is used with har or er and they are
the same in all persons.
"har" is normally used: han har spist (he has eaten)
"er" is used if a movement has taken place:
han er get
(he has gone (away))
but: han har get hele dagen (he has been walking the
whole day)
and in the passive voice: maden er blevet spist (the food has
been eaten)

4. Past perfect
is formed with havde or var before the past participle (see past
participle):
jeg havde kbt et hus (I had bought a house)
jeg var get i sent
(I had gone to bed)
Usage: as Present Perfect.

5. Future tense

is formed with skal/vil before the infinitive

or simply by using the present tense:
jeg skal rejse i morgen (I shall go tomorrow)
jeg vil rejse i morgen (I shall go tomorrow)
jeg rejser i morgen
(I shall go tomorrow)

IRREGULAR VERBS
They are the same in all persons:
jeg/du/han/hun/vi/I/de bliver
jeg/du/han/hun/vi/I/de blev
jeg/du/han/hun/vi/I/de er blevet
Verbs with * are modal verbs
Verbs with ** are auxiliary verbs
Verbs with *** are modal and auxiliary verbs
Here are the most common irregular verbs:
Present
Infinitive
English
Past tense
tense
at blive** become
bliver
blev
at drikke
drink
drikker
drak
at d
die
dr
dde
at f**
get
fr
fik
at give
give
giver
gav
at gre
do
gr
gjorde
at g
go
gr
gik
at have** have
har
havde
at komme come
kommer
kom
at kunne* could
kan
kunne
at lade
let
lader
lod
at le
laugh
ler
lo

Present
perfect
er blevet
har drukket
er dd
har fet
har givet
har gjort
er/har get
har haft
er kommet
har kunnet
har ladet
har leet

at ligge
at lgge
at lbe
at mtte*
at se
at sidde
at sige
at skrive
at skulle***
at sove
at sprge
at st
at slge
at stte
at tage
at vide
at ville***
at vre**

lie down
lay
run
may, must
see
is sitting
say
write
should
sleep
ask
stand
sell
put, sit
down
take
know
would
be

ligger
lgger
lber
m
ser
sidder
siger
skriver
skal
sover
sprger
str
slger

l
lagde
lb
mtte
s
sad
sagde
skrev
skulle
sov
spurgte
stod
solgte

har ligget
har lagt
har lbet
har mttet
har set
har siddet
har sagt
har skrevet
har skullet
har sovet
har spurgt
har stet
har solgt

stter

satte

har sat

tager
ved
vil
er

tog
vidste
ville
var

har taget
har vidst
har villet
har vret

AUXILIARY VERBS
The auxiliary and modal verbs kunne/skulle/ville/mtte are
connected to
the infinitive without "at" (as in English):
jeg kan tale dansk (I can speak Danish)
du m gerne komme ind (you may come in)
han ville ikke gre det (he did not want to do so)
The pronunciation of the auxiliary verbs is a little special, the
last consonant is normally not pronounced:

han kan (pronounced [k]) komme (he can come)

han vil (pronounced [ve]) komme
(he will come)
han skal (pronounced [sg]) komme (he shall come)
han skulle (pronounced [sgu]) komme (he should come)

PARTICIPLES
1. Past participle
There are 2 regular conjugations of the past participle:
a. Regular conjugation, group I (the biggest group):
Base form + -et (the same in all persons):
husk, lav = husket (remembered), lavet (made)
bo, vask = boet (lived), vasket (washed)
b. Regular conjugation, group II:
Base form + -t (the same in all persons):
ls, spis = lst (read), spist (eaten)
kb, vis = kbt (bought), vist (showed)
Usage: It is used to form the compound tenses (present perfect and past
perfect):
jeg har/havde kbt en ny bil (I have/had bought a new car)
The past participle can also be used as an adjective (and is
inflected (see adjectives)):
den spiste kage (the eaten cake)
en spist kage (an eaten cake)
The past participle has a passive signification:
den spiste kage (= the cake that has been eaten)

2. Present participle
The present participle is formed by adding -ende to the base
form:

smilende (smil + -ende), gende (g + -ende).

Usage: It can be used like the English -ing form only after kommer/kom,
blive/blev:
han kom gende (he came walking)
hun blev stende (she kept standing)
Notice: The English -ing form (progressive form) is constructed in
another way in Danish:
the girl is smiling = pigen smiler, pigen sidder/str/ligger og
smiler
(subject (the girl) + verbal (is smiling))
Notice:

pigen er smilende = the girl is a smiling girl

(subject (pigen) + verb (er) + subject complement

(smilende))
The present participle can also be used as an adjective
but it is not inflected:
den smilende pige (the smiling girl)
en smilende pige (a smiling girl)
et/det smilende barn (a/the smiling child)
de smilende brn (the smiling children)
The past participle has an active signification:
den smilende pige (the girl that is smiling)

INFINITIVE
Infinitive is the form that is found in a dictionary and ends normally in
-e.
If infinitive does not end in -e then the infinitive and the base form
are the same:
bo (live, lives)
g (go, goes)
st (stand, stands)

1. Infinitive without "at":

a. together with auxiliary verbs:
jeg kan komme i morgen (I can come tomorrow)
jeg kan ikke komme
(I cannot come)
b. accusative-infinitive after verbs of sensing:
jeg s ham komme
(I saw him come)

2. Infinitive together with "at":

a. after a preposition:

han kom for at besge mig (he came to see

me)
b. subject:

at rejse er dyrt (travelling is expensive)

c. predicate:

hans ml var at rejse (his goal was to travel)

d. object:

han nskede at komme (he wanted to come)

SUBJUNCTIVE
The subjunctive is not used in modern Danish but is stil used
in some old sayings:
Gud velsigne Danmark (God bless Denmark)
Gud vre med dig
(God be with thou)

PASSIVE VOICE
General: The passive voice is formed in 2 ways.
Sometimes you may decide for yourself which one you want to
use,
other times there is a sligh difference between the 2 forms and
again
other times you can only use one of them.

1. s-passive:
The present tense has -s (instead of -r in active form): slges
(active: slger)
bogen slges (the book is sold)
The past tense adds -s to the active form: solgtes (active: solgte)
bogen solgtes (the book was sold)

2. blive-passive:
The present tense: bliver + past participle:
bogen bliver solgt (the book is sold)
The past tense: blev + past participle:
bogen blev solgt (the book was sold))
ADVERBS

General: Adverbs can qualify different words:

a. a verb:
hun synger smukt (she sings beautifully)
b. an adjective: han er meget stor (he is very big)
c. another adverb: hun synger ganske smukt (she sings quite
beautifully)
d. a sentence:
selvflgelig ville han komme (of course he
would come)
Types:

There are more types of adverbs:

a. adverbs made of an adjective + t: smuk/smukt

(beautiful/beautifully)
b. true adverbs (can not be changed): ikke/aldrig/kun
(not/never/only)
c. prepositions without a regimen:
han tog hatten p (he took
his hat on)

Comparison:
Some adverbs can be compared (irregular comparion):
base form

comparative

superlative

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------godt
bedre
bedst (well/better/best)
lnge
lngere
lngst (long time/longer/longest)
gerne
hellere
helst (are not found in English)
jeg vil gerne komme (I should like to come)

Two-form adverbs:
Adverbs describing a direction have long and short forms:
ind/inde (in), ud/ude (out), op/oppe (up), ned/nede (down)

1. Short forms describe a movement from one place to another:

han gr ind i haven

(he goes into the garden)

(German: er geht in den Garden)
han kravler op i tret (he climbs up into the tree)
(er klettert auf den Baum)
2. Long forms describe a movement within the same place:
han gr inde i haven (he walks inside the garden)
(German: er geht im Garden)
han er oppe i tret (he is up on the tree)
(German: er ist im Baum)

CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunctions connect words, elements and clauses.

1. Co-ordinating Conjunctions: og/eller/men (and/or/but)
drengen og pigen (the boy and the girl)
2. Subordinating Conjunctions:
are always the first word in a subordinate clause:
at (that)
han sagde, at han var syg (he said that he was ill)
om (if/whether)
jeg ved ikke, om han kommer (I don't know if he will come)
nr (when)
present tense:
han kommer, nr han kan
(he comes
when he can)
future tense:
jeg gr, nr det er tiden
(I shall go
when it's time)
past tense (every time): han spiste, nr han var sulten (he
always ate when he was hungry)
da (when)
past tense (once):
when/because he was hungry)

han spiste, da han var sulten (he ate

IMPERATIVE

The imperative is always the base form of a verb:

g din vej! (go away!)
g jeres vej!
(go away!)
spis din mad! (eat your food!)
sov godt!
(sleep well!)

FORMAL SUBJECTS

The first subject (det/der) in a clause always refers to the real

subject
1. "det" (it):
a. When the real subject is an infinitive/phrase:
det er godt at vre her (it is good to be here)
b. When the real subject is a subordinate clause:
det er godt, at han kan gre det (it is good that he can do so)
c. As an impersonal subject:
det regner/sner/blser (it is raining/snowing/windy)

d. when the complement is a noun, or possessive pronoun in

plural::
det er mine venner (they are my friends)
det er ogs dine (they are also yours)
but: de er store

(they are big) (the complement is an

adjective)
e. The personal pronoun can also be used if the complement is a
noun in singular:
det/han er min ven (it/he is my friend)

2. "der" (there):
a. When referring to an adverbial (as in English):
der er 2 drenge her i huset (there are 2 boys in this house)
b. When referring to an infinite amount (as in English):
der er mange folk her (there are many people here)
c. As a subject in a passive clause:
der ss mange folk p gaden (many people were seen in the
street)
(=man s mange folk p gaden)
d. expresions concerning distance (English "it"):
der er langt til America (it is a long way to America)