Danish

Conjugate Verbs

Introduction

Danish is one of the North Germanic languages. It is spoken mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the status of minority language. Danish also holds official status and is a mandatory subject in school in the Danish territories of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which now enjoy limited autonomy.

Danish language periods

The history of the Danish language may be divided into three main periods:

1. Old Danish (800-1100)
2. Middle Danish (1100-1500)
3. Modern Danish (from 1500)

The Danish Verb

The infinitive forms of Danish verbs end in a vowel, which in almost all cases is the letter e.

Verbs are conjugated according to tense, but otherwise do not vary according to person or number. Conjugation according to person and number started to disappear in Early Modern Danish.

For example the present tense form of the Danish infinitive verb spise ("to eat") is spiser; this form is the same regardless of whether the subject is in the first, second, or third person, or whether it is singular or plural.

Sample verb: bage

Infinitive	bage
Present	bager
Past	bagte

(Compare these verb forms with corresponding conjugations in Early Modern Danish.)

More Verbs

• bage to bake,
• søge to search,
• tåle to endure

Conjugate all Danish verbs at Verbix

Verblists

• Danish - English Dictionary

References

• Lindgren, J.V.. Dansk och Norsk grammatik. P.A. Nordstedt & söners Förlag. Stockholm, 1925. [PDF]
• Barðal, Jóhanna et al.. Nordiska. Våra språk förr och nu. Lund, 2001.