20 Danish Common Verbs You Should Know: Your #1 Easy Guide

Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/da/danish-common-verbs/

If not for the help of verbs, our sentences would make zero sense, and they will just be some random words joined together with no direction. Verbs have a significant role in any language because they give a sentence meaning by showing a sense of action, direction, or state of being. In the Danish language, verbs are super important and determining whether your sentences will be duly understood or will further confuse the listeners.

In this article, we’ve covered the most common Danish verbs you will need to form everyday sentences; we also highlighted the past, present, and perfect tenses to help you construct sentences. Lastly, we provided a few examples to help you further understand how the verbs work. So, without further ado, let’s get into the article.

What To Know About Danish Verbs

Hold up! Sorry for the break in transmission, but here is one thing that makes Danish verbs unique and even easier to learn.

Danish verbs are the same for every subject pronoun: Therefore, whether you are using she, he, I, or they, the verbs stay the same, contrasting to how verbs work in the English language. However, this makes learning Danish super easy. For example, the present tense of the verb to be, er, will be the same for all subject pronouns.

• Jeg er – I am
• Du er – You are
• Hun/han er – He/she is
• Vi er – We are
• I e – You are
• De er – They are

Besides, if you are in the country or traveling to Denmark soon, you should keep asking for directions, use question words, and look for ways to introduce yourself like a native speaker. Knowing the basic verbs will really help you in your journey.

20 Essential Danish Verbs To Start With

At være — To be

• Present tense: Er
• Past tense: Var
• Perfect tense: Været

Examples

• Jeg har været syg — I have been sick
• Jeg var sammen med min kone — I was with my wife
• Det var sgu godt — That was really good

At ville — To want

• Present tense: vil
• Past tense: ville
• Perfect tense: villet

Examples

• Jeg vil gerne se dig — I want to see you
• Jeg har altid villet være normal — I always wanted to be normal
• Jeg ville cykle — I wanted to ride the bicycle

At have — To have

• Present tense: har
• Past tense: havde
• Perfect tense :haft

Example

• Jeg har prøvet at søge jobbet — I have tried applying for the job
• Det kunne have været dig eller mig — It could have been you or me
• Jeg ville ønske, jeg havde penge I wish I had money

At komme — To come

• Present tense: kommer,
• Past tense: kom,
• Perfect tense: kommet

Example

• Jeg kom for at besøge dig I came to visit you
• Jeg vidste, I ville komme! — I knew you’d come
• Jeg kommer for at se dig i morgen — I will see you tomorrow.

At gå — To go

• Present tense: går, ,
• Past tense: gik
• Perfect tense: gået

Example

• Sandra er kommet — Sandra just came in
• Han tog hjem i går — He went home yesterday
• Jeg kom for at bringe dig håb! — I came to bring you hope

At spise — To eat

• Present tense: spiser
• Past tense: spiste
• Perfect tense: spist

Example

• Jeg foretrækker at spise alene — I like to eat alone
• jeg elsker at spise — I love eating
• Har I spist godt? — Have you eaten well, friend?

At hedde — To be called

• Present tense: hedder
• Past tense: hed
• Perfect tense: heddet

Example

• Hvad hedder du — What is your name
• Hvad sagde du, sygdommen hed? — What did he say the disease was called
• Jeg hedder Dorcas — I am called Dorcas

At sige — To say

• Present tense: siger
• Past tense: sadge
• Perfect tense: sagt

Examples

• Hvad sagde du — What did you say?
• Hvad sagde hun — What was she saying?
• Sig ikke det — Don’t say that

At snakke — To talk

• Present tense: Sankker
• Past tense: Snakkede
• Perfect tense: Snakket

Example

• Jeg skal snakke med mor — I want to talk to mother
• Jeg tager en snak med ham — I will go and have a talk with him
• Han snakkede og snakkede — He talked and talked

At se — To see

• Present tense: Ser
• Past tense: Sa
• Perfect tense: Set

Example

• Hvilken film ser vi i dag — Which movie are we seeing today?
• Jeg ser ingenting — I don’t see anything
• Hvornår så du din far sidste gang? — When was the last time you saw your father

At drikke — To drink

• Present tense: drikker
• Past tense: drak
• Perfect tense: drukket

Example

• Vil De have noget at drikke? — May I offer you something to drink?
• Hun drak noget vin — She drank some wine
• Hvad drikker du — What are you drinking?

At tale — To speak

• Present tense: taler
• Past tense: talte
• Perfect tense: har talt

Example

• Jeg taler lidt dansk — I speak a little Danish.
• Taler du til mig — Are you speaking to me
• Vi talte i går — We spoke yesterday

At give — To give

• Present tense: giver
• Past tense: gav
• Perfect tense: givet

Example

• Bare giv ham noget tid — Just give him some time
• Bare giv mig et par minutter — Just give me a few minutes
• Han gav hende et kys — He gave her a kiss

At gøre — To do, to make

• Present tense: gør
• Past tense: gjorde
• Perfect tense: gjort

Example

• Det gjorde ikke noget længere — It didn’t matter anymore
• kan du gøre mig en tjeneste — Can you do me a favor?
• Hvad gør vi? — What do we do now?

At finde — To find

• Present tense: finder
• Past tense: fandt
• Perfect tense: fundet

Example

• Kan du finde ham? — Can you find him?
• Jeg fandt det — I found it
• De har fundet noget af hans i garagen — They found some of his stuffs

At elske — To love

• Present tense: elsker,,
• Past tense: elskede
• Perfect tense: elsket

Example

• Jeg elsker hende — I love her
• Hun elskede dig — She loved you
• Jeg elsker hunde — I love dogs

At stå — To stan

• Present tense: står,
• Past tense: stod
• Perfect tense: stået

Example

• Jeg stod i fem timer — I stood for five hours

At beholde — To keep

• Present tense: beholder
• Past tense: beholdt
• Perfect tense — Har beholdt

Example

• Jeg havde beholdt bilen — I would have kept the car
• Nej, behold den — Oh, no, keep that.
• Du kan beholde den — You can keep it

At bringe — To bring

• Present tense: bringer
• Past tense: bragte
• Perfect tense: har bragt

Example

• Jeg er glad for, at du bringer det på bane — I really appreciate your bringing this forward.
• Hvem ved, hvad fremtiden bringer? — Who knows what the future will bring?
• Bring mig noget tøj — Bring me some clothes

You Can Still Learn More

Okay! We’ve gone through some common Danish verbs that can help you form your sentence structures immediately. You can try creating some sentences with these verbs, and I am sure you will do pretty well. Now that we’ve covered Danish verbs in this article, you should know a lot of verbs and Danish vocabulary. So, if you are interested in taking your Danish learning journey further, you should try out the Ling App.

Learn Danish With Ling App

Ling App is a language learning platform that integrates a gamified experience to make learning fun and enjoyable. It has loads of detailed grammar lessons covering everything from the basics to the advanced language learning knowledge and quizzes to challenge and test your learning skills. There is also an AI chatbot to practice your conversational skills and many other features to move you from a beginner to a fluent speaker. As if that is not enough, you can access the resources (blog) page, where you can learn more about your target language. Ling App offers Danish and a60+ languages to learn.

So, what are you waiting for? Download the Ling App Today