English uses one verb, "to know," for two genuinely different mental relationships: knowing a fact ("I know that it's raining") and being acquainted with someone or something ("I know your sister"). Danish splits them into vide and kende, and choosing wrong produces sentences that sound, to a Dane, simply broken. The dividing line is clean and easy to test.
The quick answer
- Know a fact, or know that / where / who / how something is → vide
- Be acquainted with a person, place, or thing (a direct object) → kende
The test is about what comes next:
- Followed by a clause (a "that…", "where…", "who…", "how…" statement) → vide
- Followed by a noun object you're familiar with (a person, a city, a song) → kende
The two verbs are irregular, so learn their core forms up front:
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Perfect | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| at vide | ved | vidste | har vidst | know (a fact) |
| at kende | kender | kendte | har kendt | know (be acquainted) |
Note the present of vide is the short, irregular ved (not vider), pronounced with a soft d. The past vidste has an -st-. Kende is regular: kender, kendte, kendt.
Vide — knowing a fact
Vide is about information. It is typically followed by a subordinate clause introduced by at ("that"), or by a question word (hvor "where," hvem "who," hvad "what," hvornår "when", hvordan "how"). What you "vide" is a piece of knowledge, not a thing you're acquainted with.
Jeg ved, hvor han bor.
I know where he lives.
Ved du, hvad klokken er?
Do you know what time it is?
Hun vidste godt, at det var forkert.
She knew very well that it was wrong.
Jeg ved det ikke.
I don't know (it / that).
In Jeg ved det ikke, the det stands in for a fact — "it," the answer, the information. This is the standard Danish for "I don't know." Crucially, det here is a fact-pronoun, not a person or object you're acquainted with — so it's vide, not kende.
Kende — being acquainted with a person, place, or thing
Kende takes a direct object that you have personal familiarity with: a person you've met, a city you've been to, a book you've read, a song you recognise. It's the verb of acquaintance and recognition.
Jeg kender ham godt — vi gik i skole sammen.
I know him well — we went to school together.
Kender du København?
Do you know Copenhagen? (are you familiar with it?)
Hun kender alle på arbejdet.
She knows everyone at work.
Den sang kender jeg — det er en gammel klassiker.
I know that song — it's an old classic.
In every case the object is a thing or person you're acquainted with: ham, København, alle, den sang. You couldn't replace any of these with a "that…"-clause — that's the tell-tale sign of kende.
The contrast that locks it in
Use the same little pronoun det with both verbs and watch the meaning shift:
Jeg ved det. (kender til faktum/svaret)
I know it. (the fact / the answer)
Jeg kender det. (er bekendt med det — stedet, sagen, følelsen)
I know it. (I'm familiar with it — the place, the matter, the feeling)
Jeg ved det = "I know that piece of information." Jeg kender det = "I'm familiar with that — I recognise it, I've encountered it before." If a friend describes a frustrating situation, you might answer Jeg kender det godt ("I know the feeling / I've been there"), never jeg ved det godt (which would mean "I'm aware of that fact"). Same English word, two Danish verbs, two meanings.
Edge cases
"Know how to do something" — usually kunne, not vide. Danish prefers the modal kunne ("can / be able to") for skills: Hun kan svømme ("She knows how to swim / can swim"), not hun ved at svømme. Use vide only for knowing facts, including vide hvordan ("know how" in the informational sense): Jeg ved, hvordan man gør det ("I know how one does it").
"Get to know" someone — lære … at kende. Becoming acquainted is a fixed phrase: Jeg vil gerne lære dig at kende ("I'd like to get to know you"). It builds on kende.
Recognising on sight — genkende or kende igen. For "recognise," Danish uses genkende or kende igen: Jeg kendte hende ikke igen ("I didn't recognise her"). This is the acquaintance family, built on kende.
"Know of" / "be aware of" a fact about — vide. Jeg ved, at hun er flyttet ("I know she's moved"). Any "I'm aware that…" is vide.
Common Mistakes
The classic error — straight from English's single "know" — is using vide with a person or place. It's the most reliable giveaway of a beginner.
❌ Jeg ved ham.
Incorrect — a person you're acquainted with takes kende.
✅ Jeg kender ham.
I know him.
❌ Kender du, hvor stationen er?
Incorrect — a 'where…' clause is a fact → vide.
✅ Ved du, hvor stationen er?
Do you know where the station is?
❌ Jeg vider det ikke.
Incorrect — the present of vide is the irregular ved, not 'vider'.
✅ Jeg ved det ikke.
I don't know.
❌ Hun kender, at jeg er træt.
Incorrect — knowing a 'that…' fact is vide, not kende.
✅ Hun ved, at jeg er træt.
She knows that I'm tired.
❌ Jeg ved den her by godt.
Incorrect — being familiar with a place/thing is kende.
✅ Jeg kender den her by godt.
I know this city well.
The fix is always the same test: is there a fact/clause after "know"? → vide (and remember ved in the present). Is there a person/place/thing you're acquainted with? → kende.
Decision table
| What follows "know"? | Meaning | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| "that…" clause | know a fact | vide (ved) | Jeg ved, at hun kommer. |
| "where / who / what / how…" | know information | vide (ved) | Ved du, hvem det er? |
| a person | be acquainted | kende | Jeg kender ham. |
| a place / thing / song | be familiar with | kende | Kender du København? |
| a skill ("know how to swim") | be able to | kunne | Hun kan svømme. |
Key takeaways
- Vide (present ved, past vidste) = know a fact, typically before a "that / where / who / how" clause.
- Kende (present kender, past kendte) = be acquainted with a person, place, or thing.
- The minimal pair jeg ved det ("I know the fact") vs jeg kender det ("I'm familiar with it") shows the split in action.
- Romance speakers: it's exactly savoir vs connaître. Everyone else: fact-clause → vide, object-you-know → kende.
- Don't forget the irregular present ved — never vider.
Now practice Danish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- VideA1 — Full reference for vide ('to know a fact') — principal parts, all core tenses in natural sentences, its irregular present ved, and the crucial vide/kende split that English collapses into one word.
- KendeA2 — Full reference for kende ('to know, be acquainted with'), the regular -te past, and the crucial contrast with vide.
- Danish Verbs: An OverviewA1 — A big-picture map of the Danish verb system — no person agreement, one present and one past form per verb, compound perfects, the passive, and modals.
- Synes, Tro, Tænke: Three Ways to ThinkB1 — How to choose between synes (opinion), tro (belief/guess) and tænke (the mental activity) — Danish splits English 'think' three ways.
- At-clauses (Content Clauses)B1 — How Danish builds 'that'-clauses with at — their subordinate word order, when at can be dropped, and how to tell the complementiser at apart from the infinitive marker at and the conjunction og.