[INDEX]

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), gå (go), se (see)
           
            e. Base form (or stem) is infinitive without -e:
                syng (=synge minus -e) (sing).

           
 
[INDEX]
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, stå + -r = bor, står (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 læser (he is reading)

          b. periphrastic construction with: 
              sidder/står/ligger og + present tense:
                    han sidder og læser (he is reading)

          c. periphrastic construction with: 
              er ved at + infinitive:
                    han er ved at læse (he is reading)
         
 

[INDEX]
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):
                    læs, spis = læste (read), spiste (ate)
                    køb, vis  = købte (bought), viste (showed)
         
       c. Irregular conjugation:
                    var (was/were), så (saw), gik (went), 
                    sagde (pronounced (sä·) (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 læste (he was reading)

          b. periphrastic construction with: 
              sad/stod/lå og + present tense:
                       han sad og læste (he was reading)

          c. periphrastic construction with: 
              var ved at + infinitive:
                       han var ved at læse (he was reading)
                  
 
        
[INDEX]
3. Present Perfect
 
         is formed with har or er before the past participle (see past participle):
                        
                        jeg har købt et hus (I have bought a house)
                        jeg er gået 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 gået                     (he has gone (away))
                        but: han har gået hele dagen  (he has been walking the whole day)

             and in the passive voice: maden er blevet spist (the food has been eaten)
         
 
 
[INDEX]
4. Past perfect
         is formed with havde or var before the past participle (see past participle):
                      
                        jeg havde købt et hus (I had bought a house)
                        jeg var gået i sent       (I had gone to bed)


Usage: as Present Perfect.                   
         

[INDEX]
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)
         
         




[INDEX]

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:
Infinitive English Present tense Past tense Present perfect
at blive** become bliver blev er blevet
at drikke drink drikker drak har drukket
at dø die dør døde er død
at få** get får fik har fået
at give give giver gav har givet
at gøre do gør gjorde har gjort
at gå go går gik er/har gået
at have** have har havde har haft
at komme come kommer kom er kommet
at kunne* could kan kunne har kunnet
at lade let lader lod har ladet
at le laugh ler lo har leet
at ligge lie down ligger lå  har ligget
at lægge lay lægger lagde har lagt
at løbe run løber løb har løbet
at måtte* may, must må måtte har måttet
at se see ser så har set
at sidde is sitting sidder sad har siddet
at sige say siger sagde har sagt
at skrive write skriver skrev har skrevet
at skulle*** should skal skulle har skullet
at sove sleep sover sov har sovet
at spørge ask spørger spurgte har spurgt
at stå stand står  stod har stået
at sælge sell sælger solgte har solgt
at sætte put, sit down sætter satte har sat
at tage take tager tog har taget
at vide know ved vidste har vidst
at ville*** would vil ville har villet
at være** be er var har været 


 
[INDEX]

AUXILIARY VERBS

         
         The auxiliary and modal verbs kunne/skulle/ville/måtte are connected to
         the infinitive without "at" (as in English):

                         jeg kan tale dansk (I can speak Danish)
                         du må gerne komme ind (you may come in)
                         han ville ikke gøre 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 [kä]) komme     (he can come)
                 han vil (pronounced [ve])  komme      (he will come)
                 han skal (pronounced [sgä]) komme   (he shall come)
                 han skulle (pronounced [sgu]) komme (he should come)
         
 




[INDEX]

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):
                      læs, spis = læst (read), spist (eaten)
                      køb, vis  = købt (bought), vist (showed)

Usage: It is used to form the compound tenses (present perfect and past perfect):
                      jeg har/havde købt 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)
         


[INDEX]

2. Present participle

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

            smilende (smil + -ende), gående (gå + -ende).

Usage:  It can be used like the English -ing form only after kommer/kom, blive/blev: 
                       han kom gående (he came walking)
                       hun blev stående (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/står/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 børn (the smiling children)


              The past participle has an active signification:  
                      den smilende pige (the girl that is smiling) 



[INDEX]

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)
                       gå  (go, goes)
                       stå (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 så ham komme            (I saw him come)
         


2. Infinitive together with "at":

        a. after a preposition:    han kom for at besøge mig (he came to see me)

        b. subject:                   at rejse er dyrt (travelling is expensive)

        c. predicate:                hans mål var at rejse (his goal was to travel)

        d. object:                     han ønskede at komme (he wanted to come)
         
         
         




[INDEX]

SUBJUNCTIVE

        
            The subjunctive is not used in modern Danish but is stil used
            in some old sayings:

                 Gud velsigne Danmark  (God bless Denmark)
                 Gud være med dig         (God be with thou) 
         
         






[INDEX]

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): sælges (active: sælger)

                               bogen sælges (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))