Åbne ("to open") is a perfectly regular -ede verb, but it earns a place in any beginner's core list for a second reason: it is the textbook verb for learning the Danish passive. Signs, notices and instructions are full of døren åbnes ("the door is opened / opens") and butikken bliver åbnet ("the shop is being opened"), and åbne is where most learners first meet the choice between Danish's two passives — the -s passive and the blive-passive. Its natural antonym is lukke ("to close"), and the two travel together everywhere.
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) åbne | to open |
| Present | åbner | open(s) |
| Past | åbnede | opened |
| Past participle | åbnet | opened |
| Imperative | åbn! | open! |
Present: åbner
The present åbner is identical for every subject.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | åbner | jeg åbner vinduet |
| du | åbner | du åbner døren |
| han / hun | åbner | hun åbner en butik |
| vi | åbner | vi åbner klokken ni |
| de | åbner | de åbner gaverne |
Kan du åbne vinduet? Der er så varmt herinde.
Can you open the window? It's so warm in here.
Butikken åbner klokken ti på søndage.
The shop opens at ten on Sundays.
Past: åbnede
The past is the regular åbnede — stem plus -ede.
Hun åbnede døren, før jeg nåede at banke på.
She opened the door before I'd even managed to knock.
Vi åbnede en flaske vin og fejrede det.
We opened a bottle of wine and celebrated.
Present perfect: har åbnet
The perfect takes har plus the participle åbnet.
Har du åbnet posten i dag?
Have you opened the post today?
De har lige åbnet en ny café på hjørnet.
They've just opened a new café on the corner.
Past perfect: havde åbnet
Da jeg kom hjem, havde nogen allerede åbnet pakken.
When I got home, someone had already opened the parcel.
The big point: åbne in the passive
This is where åbne really earns its keep. When the focus is on the door rather than on who opens it, Danish uses the passive, and åbne is the classic verb for showing both ways of forming it.
The -s passive simply adds -s to the verb stem: åbner → åbnes ("is opened / opens"). It is compact and impersonal, the natural choice for signs, schedules and rules.
Døren åbnes automatisk.
The door opens automatically. (sign)
Lågene åbnes ved tryk på knappen.
The lids are opened by pressing the button. (instructions)
The blive-passive puts bliver before the participle: bliver åbnet ("is being opened / gets opened"). It feels more dynamic and spoken, and it is what you use for a one-off event happening at a particular moment.
Den nye bro bliver åbnet på lørdag.
The new bridge is being opened on Saturday.
Brevet blev åbnet af en fremmed.
The letter was opened by a stranger.
Åbne op and åbne for: particles
Like its antonym lukke, åbne combines with particles. Åbne op is a common, slightly emphatic "open up," and åbne for means to turn on a tap, the radio, or to "open up for" something.
Luk nu op — åbn døren, det er mig!
Open up — open the door, it's me!
Kan du åbne for varmen? Jeg fryser.
Can you turn on the heating? I'm freezing.
Imperative: åbn!
The imperative is åbn (no -e), and you meet it constantly on doors, jars and demands to be let in.
Åbn munden, sagde tandlægen.
Open your mouth, said the dentist.
Common collocations and fixed expressions
- åbne op — to open up
- åbne for — to turn on (tap, radio, heating)
- åbningstider — opening hours (the related noun)
- åbne en konto — to open an account
- åbne sig — to open up (emotionally)
Hvad er jeres åbningstider i weekenden?
What are your opening hours at the weekend?
A natural exchange
— Hvornår åbner banken? — Den åbner klokken ti. Men husk, kontoret bliver åbnet en halv time før. — Skal jeg åbne en konto i dag? — Ja, hvis du kan vente, til de åbner.
— When does the bank open? — It opens at ten. But remember, the office is opened half an hour earlier. — Should I open an account today? — Yes, if you can wait until they open.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg åbnde døren.
Wrong past — the regular form is åbnede, with the full -ede ending.
✅ Jeg åbnede døren.
I opened the door.
❌ Døren bliver åbner automatisk.
Mixing the two passives — use either the -s form (åbnes) or bliver + participle (bliver åbnet), not bliver + present.
✅ Døren åbnes automatisk.
The door opens automatically.
❌ Aabne vinduet, det er varmt.
Spelling and form — write the å, and a command uses the imperative åbn.
✅ Åbn vinduet, det er varmt.
Open the window, it's warm.
❌ Kan du åbne radioen?
Wrong particle — to 'turn on' a device Danish uses åbne for, or more naturally tænde.
✅ Kan du tænde for radioen?
Can you turn on the radio?
❌ Har du åbne brevet?
Missing the participle ending — the perfect needs åbnet.
✅ Har du åbnet brevet?
Have you opened the letter?
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- LukkeA1 — Full reference for lukke ('to close / shut') — principal parts, the regular -ede pattern across all core tenses, and the particle pair that flips its meaning: lukke op = open, lukke i = close.
- The -s PassiveB1 — The synthetic -s passive — formed by adding -s to the verb (taler → tales) — is the natural Danish passive for general truths, instructions, notices, recipes, and modal constructions. Here is how to build and use it.
- The Blive PassiveB1 — The blive-passive (blive + past participle) is Danish's everyday passive for a single, concrete, dynamic event — and the key contrast it forces is blive (the action happening) vs være (the state that results).
- Weak Past: The -ede ClassA1 — The largest, productive class of Danish regular verbs — past in -ede, participle in -et — and the safe default for any verb you don't recognise.
- The Present PerfectA2 — How Danish builds the present perfect with have (or være) plus the past participle — and the one rule English speakers need: definite past time takes the simple past, not the perfect.
- 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.