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The Danish past tense, also known as the “preterite,” is a grammatical form used in the Danish language to describe actions or events that happened in the past. It’s a crucial aspect of Danish grammar, and understanding how to use and form the past tense is essential to learn this language well.
When to use the past tense?
In Danish, the past tense is typically used to talk about actions that are completed and no longer ongoing. These actions could have occurred recently or a long time ago. For example, you might use the past tense to say, “I ate breakfast this morning”, “She visited the museum last week.” or “We went to visit grandma when I was young.”.
How to form the past tense
To form the past tense in Danish, you usually add specific endings to the verb’s infinitive form. The endings can vary depending on the verb’s group and whether it’s a regular or irregular verb. For regular verbs, you typically add ‘-ede’ or ‘-te’ to the end of the infinitive form.
To make it easy let’s look at the following formula to make forming the past tense for regular weak Danish verbs:
jeg stem + te/ede/de
du stem + te/ede/de
han stem + te/ede/de
vi stem + te/ede/de
I stem + te/ede/de
de stem + te/ede/de
or simply said, for all pronouns: stem + te/ede/de
For example, the verb “spise” (to eat) becomes “spiste” in the past tense, as in “Jeg spiste morgenmad” (I ate breakfast).
Find the list underneath to show the past tense for 100 Danish verbs.
Most Danish verbs are weak regular verbs. However you will also encounter many important Danish verbs to be strong and irregular. They do not count on the simple rule about for their conjugations. There are actually 7 categories how to conjugate them, because the key is mostly their vowel change. All is explained in the Danish conjugation chart.
Why is the past tense so hard to learn?
In general the Danish language is a pretty easy language to learn to conjugate. It is pretty straight forward. Although there are a few irregular verbs, the pattern for regular verbs is rather easy especially because it doesn’t change with each pronoun like the Romand languages typically do. However, the Danish past tense is often considered the most challenging for learners for several reasons.
Firstly, there are many irregular verbs in Danish that don’t follow the standard pattern, so you need to memorize their past tense forms individually.
Secondly, the past tense endings and vowels can change based on the verb’s group, making it more complex to conjugate verbs correctly. For strong verbs there is not even 1 one rule that applies to all, but actually 7 different ones.
Additionally, Danish pronunciation can be tricky, as some past tense forms may not be pronounced exactly as they are spelled, adding an extra layer of difficulty.
99 Danish verbs conjugated in the past tense
Down here is a list of 99 Danish verbs that are conjugated in their past tense. Knowing what you know now. Can you figure out what the weak, strong and irregular verbs are? It’s great practice to see if you got it right:
Danish verbs conjugated in the past tense
| Danish Verb (Infinitive) | Past Tense Form |
|---|---|
| Arbejde (Work) | Arbejdede |
| Bære (Carry) | Bar |
| Be (Ask) | Bad |
| Beslutte (Decide) | Besluttede |
| Besøge (Visit) | Besøgte |
| Besvare (Reply) | Besvarede |
| Betale (Pay) | Betalte |
| Bo (Live) | Boede |
| Bruge (Use) | Brugte |
| Byde (Offer) | Bød |
| Bygge (Build) | Byggede |
| Cykle (Cycle) | Cyklede |
| Danse (Dance) | Danskede |
| Dø (Die) | Døde |
| Drikke (Drink) | Drak |
| Elske (Love) | Elskede |
| Få (Get) | Fik |
| Falde (Fall) | Faldt |
| Fejle (Fail) | Fejlede |
| Finde (Find) | Fandt |
| Fjerne (Remove) | Fjernede |
| Flytte (Move) | Flyttede |
| Flyve (Fly) | Fløj |
| Forsøge (Attempt) | Forsøgte |
| Forstå (Understand) | Forstod |
| Fryse (Freeze) | Frøs |
| Gemme (Save) | Gemte |
| Glemme (Forget) | Glemte |
| Græde (Cry) | Græd |
| Grænse (Border) | Grænsede |
| Grine (Laugh) | Grinede |
| Have (Have) | Havde |
| Hente (Fetch) | Hentede |
| Hjælpe (Help) | Hjalp |
| Holde (Hold) | Holdt |
| Høre (Hear) | Hørte |
| Indrømme (Admit) | Indrømmede |
| Kalde (Call) | Kaldte |
| Kende (Know) | Kendte |
| Kigge (Look) | Kiggede |
| Klare (Handle/Manage) | Klarede |
| Klatre (Climb) | Klattrerede |
| Komme (Come) | Kom |
| Køre (Drive) | Kørte |
| Koste (Cost) | Kostede |
| Lade (Let/Allow) | Lod |
| Lære (Learn) | Lærte |
| Lave (Make/Do) | Lavede |
| Leje (Rent) | Lejede |
| Ligge (Lie) | Lå |
| Ligne (Resemble) | Lignede |
| Løbe (Run) | Løb |
| Løfte (Lift) | Løftede |
| Lukke (Close) | Lukkede |
| Male (Paint) | Malede |
| Miste (Lose) | Mistede |
| Møde (Meet) | Mødte |
| Nævne (Mention) | Nævnte |
| Overveje (Consider) | Overvejede |
| Passe (Fit) | Passed |
| Regne (Calculate) | Regnede |
| Rejse (Travel) | Rejste |
| Rende (run) | Rendte |
| Ringe (Ring) | Ringede |
| Rode (Mess) | Rodede |
| Røre (Move) | Rørte |
| Sælge (Sell) | Solgte |
| Sætte (Put) | Satte |
| Samle (Collect) | Samlede |
| Se (See) | Så |
| Sidde (Sit) | Sad |
| Sig (Say) | Sagde |
| Skære (Cut) | Skar |
| Skifte (Change) | Skiftede |
| Skjule (Hide) | Skjulte |
| Skrige (Scream) | Skreg |
| Skrive (Write) | Skrev |
| Skyde (Shoot) | Skød |
| Slippe (Release) | Slap |
| Smage (Taste) | Smagte |
| Smil (Smile) | Smilede |
| Smutte (Slip) | Smuttede |
| Snakke (Talk) | Snakkede |
| Sove (Sleep) | Sov |
| Spise (Eat) | Spiste |
| Spørge (Ask) | Spurgte |
| Springe (Jump) | Sprang |
| Stå (Stand) | Stod |
| Stille (Put) | Stillede |
| Synge (Sing) | Sang |
| Tælle (Count) | Talte |
| Tænke (Think) | Tænkte |
| Tage (Take) | Tog |
| Trække (Pull) | Trak |
| Tro (Believe) | Troede |
| Være (Be) | Var |
| Vente (Wait) | Ventede |
| Vinde (Win) | Vandt |
| Vokse (Grow) | Voksede |
Conclusion about the Danish Past tense
In summary, the Danish past tense is a grammatical form used to describe past actions or events. It is formed by adding specific endings to verbs when the verb is weak and irregular rules apply when the verb is categorised as strong. This makes this tense the most challenging to learn in Danish.
However, with practice and a solid understanding of the rules, learners can become proficient in using the past tense effectively in Danish communication.
