Adverbs of Time and Frequency | Danish Grammar

Time adverbs tell you when (nu "now", snart "soon", for nylig "recently") and how often (altid "always", aldrig "never", ofte "often") an action happens. Most of them are simple vocabulary, but two things make this topic worth careful study: a cluster of words — stadig, endnu, allerede — that English speakers constantly confuse, and the placement of frequency adverbs relative to ikke ("not"), which follows Danish word-order rules, not English ones.

The core time and frequency adverbs

Start by learning these as vocabulary. The orthography matters: så and aldrig both carry letters English speakers tend to drop.

Danish	English	Type
nu	now	point in time
så	then, after that	sequence
snart	soon	near future
for nylig	recently	near past
altid	always	frequency
aldrig	never	frequency
ofte / tit	often	frequency
nogle gange / somme tider	sometimes	frequency
sjældent	rarely, seldom	frequency

Vi går altid en tur efter aftensmaden.

We always go for a walk after dinner.

Jeg har aldrig været i Norge.

I have never been to Norway.

Han ringer tit, men vi ses sjældent.

He calls often, but we rarely see each other.

Vi tog en kaffe, og så gik vi hjem.

We had a coffee, and then we went home.

Note that ofte and tit both mean "often" and are interchangeable; tit is a touch more everyday/colloquial, ofte slightly more neutral. Likewise nogle gange and somme tider both mean "sometimes," with nogle gange being the more common spoken choice and somme tider (literary) sounding a little more elevated.

The hard part: stadig vs endnu vs allerede

This trio is where English speakers — and learners of many languages — reliably stumble. English uses still, yet, and already with overlapping coverage; Danish slices the same territory differently.

stadig — "still" (an ongoing situation)

Stadig means something is still the case — a situation that started earlier and continues. It is the word for ongoing continuation, and it works in both affirmative and negative sentences.

Bor du stadig i Aarhus?

Do you still live in Aarhus?

Klokken er ti, og han sover stadig.

It's ten o'clock, and he's still asleep.

endnu — "yet" (an awaited event), esp. in negatives

Endnu points to something that is expected but has not happened yet. Its most common home is the negative phrase ikke endnu ("not yet"): the event is anticipated, it just hasn't arrived.

Er toget kommet? — Nej, ikke endnu.

Has the train arrived? — No, not yet.

Jeg har ikke set filmen endnu.

I haven't seen the film yet.

Endnu can also mean "still" in some affirmative contexts (er du her endnu? "are you still here?"), overlapping with stadig. But the reliable rule for a learner is: for "not yet," always use ikke ... endnu, never ikke ... stadig.

allerede — "already" (sooner than expected)

Allerede signals that something happened earlier than you'd expect — there is a note of surprise at the speed.

Er du allerede færdig? Det gik hurtigt!

Are you already done? That was fast!

Klokken er kun syv, men det er allerede mørkt.

It's only seven, but it's already dark.

💡

Three words, three jobs: stadig = an ongoing situation that continues ("still"); endnu = an awaited event, especially in ikke endnu ("not yet"); allerede = sooner than expected ("already"). Map each to its situation, not to the English word, and the confusion clears.

The trap to burn into memory: English "still" appears in both I still live here (continuation → stadig) and the negative it still hasn't come — but Danish does not use stadig for that negative. "It still hasn't come / it hasn't come yet" is den er ikke kommet endnu. If you find yourself wanting stadig in a "not yet" sentence, switch to endnu.

Placement: the sentence-adverbial slot

Many of these adverbs — especially altid, aldrig, ofte, sjældent, stadig, allerede — behave like sentence adverbs, which means they occupy the same slot as ikke ("not"). And that slot moves depending on the clause type.

In a main clause: the adverb comes after the finite (conjugated) verb.

Jeg drikker altid kaffe om morgenen.

I always drink coffee in the morning.

Hun kommer ofte for sent.

She is often late.

In a subordinate clause (after at "that", fordi "because", hvis "if", når "when", etc.): the adverb comes before the finite verb. This is the same flip that ikke undergoes, and it catches everyone.

Jeg ved, at han altid kommer for sent.

I know that he is always late.

Vi bliver hjemme, fordi det stadig regner.

We're staying home because it's still raining.

Compare det regner stadig (main clause: verb before adverb) with fordi det stadig regner (subordinate clause: adverb before verb). The adverb didn't change; the word order around it did.

When such an adverb co-occurs with ikke, the frequency/time adverb generally comes before ikke:

Han kommer aldrig for sent — han er faktisk altid tidligt på den.

He's never late — in fact he's always early.

Jeg har stadig ikke fået svar på min mail.

I still haven't gotten a reply to my email.

In that last one, stadig ikke ("still ... not") is the natural order, and the whole thing means the reply is overdue — a useful, idiomatic combination.

Common Mistakes

❌ Toget er ikke kommet stadig.

Incorrect — 'not yet' uses 'endnu', not 'stadig'.

✅ Toget er ikke kommet endnu.

The train hasn't arrived yet.

The flagship error: reaching for stadig in a "not yet" sentence because English allows "still hasn't." Danish reserves the awaited-event meaning for endnu.

❌ Jeg har set filmen endnu.

Incorrect — affirmative 'already' is 'allerede', not 'endnu'.

✅ Jeg har allerede set filmen.

I've already seen the film.

Endnu mostly lives in negatives ("not yet"). For an affirmative "already," you want allerede.

❌ Jeg altid drikker kaffe om morgenen.

Incorrect — in a main clause the adverb follows the finite verb.

✅ Jeg drikker altid kaffe om morgenen.

I always drink coffee in the morning.

English puts always before the verb (I always drink); Danish main clauses put it after the conjugated verb (drikker altid).

❌ Jeg ved, at han kommer altid for sent.

Incorrect — in a subordinate clause the adverb precedes the finite verb.

✅ Jeg ved, at han altid kommer for sent.

I know that he is always late.

After at (and other subordinators), the adverb flips to before the verb — the same rule that governs ikke placement.

❌ Vi går en tur altid efter maden.

Incorrect — the frequency adverb belongs right after the verb, not stranded at the end.

✅ Vi går altid en tur efter maden.

We always go for a walk after dinner.

Key Takeaways

Learn the core time/frequency adverbs as vocabulary, watching the spelling (så, aldrig, sjældent).
stadig = an ongoing situation ("still"); endnu = an awaited event, especially ikke endnu ("not yet"); allerede = sooner than expected ("already").
Never use stadig for "not yet" — that is endnu territory.
Frequency/time adverbs sit in the sentence-adverbial slot: after the finite verb in main clauses, before it in subordinate clauses, mirroring ikke.

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