Time conjunctions glue two events together: Da jeg kom hjem, lavede jeg mad ("When I got home, I made food"). Danish has a small set of these — da, når, mens, før/inden, efter at, indtil/til — and they all turn the clause they introduce into a subordinate clause, which has its own word-order rules. The single biggest hurdle for English speakers is that one English word, "when", splits into two Danish words: da and når. Getting that split right is the heart of this page.
Da vs. når: the one distinction that matters
English "when" is blind to time and frequency — you use it for a single past event ("when I was a child"), for habits ("when it rains"), and for the future ("when I get home"). Danish forces you to choose:
- da = "when" for one specific, completed event in the past. A single point on the timeline, already finished.
- når = "when(ever)" for everything else: repeated/habitual events (past or present) and future events.
Da jeg kom hjem, lavede jeg mad.
When I got home, I made food. (one specific past occasion)
Når jeg kommer hjem, laver jeg mad.
When I get home, I make food. (every day — a habit, or a future plan)
Da vi mødtes første gang, regnede det.
When we met for the first time, it was raining. (single past event)
A reliable mental test: if you could replace "when" with "the time that" (a single past occasion), use da. If you could replace it with "whenever" or "every time", use når.
Note that når is not wrong for the past in general — it is wrong only for a single past event. A repeated past event correctly takes når (see the mens-and-repetition section below), because the logic is frequency, not tense.
Når vi var små, sov vi altid hos mormor om sommeren.
When(ever) we were little, we always slept at Grandma's in summer. (repeated past)
Mens — "while"
Mens marks two things happening at the same time, over a stretch (not a point). English "while" maps onto it cleanly.
Hun lavede mad, mens jeg dækkede bord.
She cooked while I set the table.
Mens vi ventede på bussen, begyndte det at sne.
While we were waiting for the bus, it started to snow.
Danish also uses mens for contrast ("whereas"), much like English: Min bror kan godt lide kaffe, mens jeg foretrækker te ("My brother likes coffee, whereas I prefer tea").
Før / inden — "before"
Both før and inden mean "before". They overlap heavily; inden often carries a slight sense of "in good time before / by the deadline", but in everyday speech they are largely interchangeable.
Ring til mig, før du går.
Call me before you leave.
Vi skal være færdige, inden gæsterne kommer.
We have to be finished before the guests arrive.
Efter at — "after"
"After" as a conjunction is efter at (the at is the clause-introducer here, like "that"). Note that in everyday Danish the at is sometimes dropped after efter, but efter at is the safe, standard form — and the at is not the infinitive marker; the verb that follows is finite.
Efter at vi havde spist, gik vi en tur.
After we had eaten, we went for a walk.
Han ringede, efter at filmen var slut.
He called after the film was over.
Indtil / til — "until"
Indtil (and its shorter, more colloquial form til) marks the endpoint of a stretch of time.
Bliv her, indtil jeg kommer tilbage.
Stay here until I come back.
Vi dansede, til solen stod op. (informal)
We danced until the sun came up.
Word order: the rule that bites everyone
Every conjunction on this page introduces a subordinate clause, and subordinate clauses obey a different word-order rule than main clauses. The key fact for A2 learners: sentence adverbs (like ikke, altid, aldrig, også) come BEFORE the finite verb in a subordinate clause, not after it.
Jeg ringer ikke.
I'm not calling. (main clause: ikke AFTER the verb)
Hun blev sur, fordi jeg ikke ringede.
She got annoyed because I didn't call. (subordinate clause: ikke BEFORE the verb)
The second piece is what happens to the main clause when the subordinate clause comes first. Danish is a V2 ("verb-second") language: the finite verb of the main clause must be the second element. When you front a whole subordinate clause, that clause counts as the first element, so the main-clause verb jumps in front of its subject — this is called inversion.
Da jeg kom hjem, lavede jeg mad.
When I got home, I made food. (verb 'lavede' before subject 'jeg')
Mens du sover, arbejder jeg.
While you sleep, I work. (verb 'arbejder' before subject 'jeg')
Compare the un-fronted order, where no inversion happens: Jeg lavede mad, da jeg kom hjem. The comma plus the flipped verb is the signature of a fronted time clause — get used to seeing it.
Common Mistakes
1. Using når for a single past event. This is the number-one error for English speakers, because "when" hides the distinction.
❌ Når jeg var barn, boede vi i Aarhus.
Incorrect — 'da' is required for a single, finished period in the past.
✅ Da jeg var barn, boede vi i Aarhus.
When I was a child, we lived in Aarhus.
2. Forgetting inversion after a fronted time clause. English keeps subject–verb order; Danish flips it.
❌ Da hun ankom, vi spiste.
Incorrect — the main-clause verb must come before the subject.
✅ Da hun ankom, spiste vi.
When she arrived, we ate.
3. Putting ikke after the verb inside the subordinate clause.
❌ ..., fordi jeg kommer ikke i morgen.
Incorrect — in a subordinate clause, 'ikke' precedes the finite verb.
✅ ..., fordi jeg ikke kommer i morgen.
...because I'm not coming tomorrow.
4. Using da for a future or habitual event.
❌ Da jeg kommer hjem i aften, ringer jeg til dig.
Incorrect — future events take 'når', not 'da'.
✅ Når jeg kommer hjem i aften, ringer jeg til dig.
When I get home tonight, I'll call you.
For the full decision logic on da versus når, see Da vs. når and the dedicated error page Using når for a single past event. For the underlying word-order machinery, see Subordinate clauses.
Key Takeaways
- da = single, finished past event. når = repeated/habitual (any tense) or future.
- mens = "while", før/inden = "before", efter at = "after", indtil/til = "until".
- All these conjunctions create subordinate clauses: sentence adverbs go before the finite verb.
- Front the time clause and the main clause inverts: Da jeg kom hjem, lavede jeg mad.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Da vs Når: Choosing 'When'A2 — How to choose between da and når for 'when' — da for a single past event, når for habitual or future ones.
- Subordinate-Clause Word OrderB1 — Danish subordinate clauses follow a different template from main clauses: no V2 inversion, and sentence adverbs like ikke come before the finite verb, not after it.
- Conjunctions: An OverviewA1 — Danish conjunctions split into coordinating (join equals, no word-order change) and subordinating (introduce subordinate clauses with subordinate word order) — and the split is worth learning for its grammar, not its meaning.
- Using Når for a Single Past EventA2 — Why English speakers wrongly use når for one-off past events, when da is required, and the one case where past når is actually correct.
- Inversion After a Fronted ElementA1 — Whenever a non-subject opens a Danish main clause — an adverb, object, prepositional phrase, or subordinate clause — the verb stays second and the subject moves behind it.