Anse | Danish Grammar

Anse means to consider, regard, or deem. It is se (to see) with the prefix an-, and it carries a distinctly formal tone — you meet it in legal texts, reports, editorials, and careful speech rather than at the dinner table. Its core job is to assign a judgement: to regard X as being Y.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present	Past	Past participle	Imperative
anse	anser	anså	anset	anse (rare)

The perfect uses have: jeg har anset, man havde anset. Anse is a transitive verb of judgement, never one of movement, so være never appears. The imperative anse is grammatically possible but almost never used — you do not normally command someone to hold an opinion.

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No subject agreement, as always in Danish: jeg anser, du anser, vi anser, alle anser. One present form, anser, serves every person — there is nothing like English he considers.

The ablaut pattern and its English cognate

Anse is strong: its past is the vowel-change form anså, exactly the se → så shift of its parent. The participle anset ends in -et but is still strong in origin — note it is anset, not the weak ansede.

The English cognate of se is see, and the strong family resemblance survives into the participle: see → seen lines up with se → set and anse → anset. If you can recall that se behaves like see/saw/seen (se · så · set), then anse needs no extra memorising — just prefix it: anse · anså · anset.

Vi anser sagen for afsluttet.

We regard the matter as closed.

Domstolen anså beviset for utilstrækkeligt.

The court deemed the evidence insufficient.

Han har altid anset hende for en dygtig kollega.

He has always regarded her as a capable colleague.

The construction: anse X for Y

The signature pattern is anse X for Y — consider X to be Y. Crucially, the preposition is for, not som, and there is no verb to be between them: you say anser ham for kompetent, literally consider him for competent, where English needs consider him to be competent.

Jeg anser ham for kompetent.

I consider him (to be) competent.

Mange anser forslaget for urealistisk.

Many regard the proposal as unrealistic.

A variant anse X som Y does exist and is gaining ground, especially when Y is a noun phrase, but for is the established and safer choice in formal writing:

Rapporten anser klimaet som den største udfordring.

The report regards the climate as the biggest challenge.

In the passive, the pattern becomes anses for (is considered to be), the form you see most in formal prose:

Reglen anses for ophævet.

The rule is considered repealed.

Anse in formal registers

Because anse is weighty, it lives in particular places: court judgements, official letters, academic abstracts, and editorials. Recognising its typical neighbours helps you both understand formal Danish and avoid using anse where it sounds pompous.

In legal and administrative prose, the passive anses for is the standard way to state how something is to be treated under a rule:

En ansøgning, der indsendes for sent, anses for ugyldig.

An application submitted too late is considered invalid.

In academic writing, anse frames a position attributed to scholars or to a field:

Teorien anses i dag for forældet af de fleste forskere.

The theory is today regarded as outdated by most researchers.

The flip side is that anse sounds stiff in casual speech. If you find yourself reaching for I consider... about a film, a meal, or a friend's haircut, that is a signal to switch to synes or mene. Keep anse for judgements that carry institutional or evaluative weight.

Anse vs. betragte vs. synes/mene

Several Danish verbs cluster around English consider, regard, think, and register is what separates them.

Anse = deem, regard — the most formal, weightiest verb; a considered, often official judgement.
Betragte = regard, view — slightly less formal, very common in writing; betragte X som Y (note: som, not for).
Synes = think, find — everyday personal opinion, often about taste or impression.
Mene = think, hold the view — everyday opinion presented as a reasoned stance.

A useful rule of thumb: if you would write it in a verdict or a board report, reach for anse or betragte; if you would say it over coffee, reach for synes or mene. Note also that betragte takes som while anse takes for — they look like synonyms but govern different prepositions.

Eksperterne anser planen for forsvarlig, men jeg synes stadig, den er for dyr.

The experts deem the plan sound, but I still think it's too expensive.

Vi betragter ham som en ven, og vi anser ham for pålidelig.

We regard him as a friend, and we consider him reliable.

Common mistakes

❌ Retten ansåede beviset for svagt.

Incorrect — anse is strong; the weak -ede past is wrong.

✅ Retten anså beviset for svagt.

The court deemed the evidence weak.

The past is the strong anså (like så), never ansåede.

❌ Jeg anser ham som kompetent.

Disfavoured — anse governs for, not som, in standard formal use.

✅ Jeg anser ham for kompetent.

I consider him competent.

Reserve som for betragte (betragte ham som kompetent); with anse, use for.

❌ Jeg anser, at filmen er god.

Incorrect — over-formal and ungrammatical for a casual opinion; anse does not take a plain at-clause this way.

✅ Jeg synes, filmen er god.

I think the film is good.

For an everyday personal opinion, use synes, not anse. Anse is a formal judgement, not a casual I think.

❌ Sagen er anset for afsluttet af bestyrelsen.

Incorrect auxiliary placement — the participle needs have, not a stranded være-like passive here.

✅ Bestyrelsen har anset sagen for afsluttet.

The board has regarded the matter as closed.

In the perfect, use have: har anset.

Key takeaways

anse · anser · anså · anset — the se pattern (cognate of English see → saw → seen) with the prefix an-.
Perfect with have: har anset. Never være.
The construction is anse X for Y — preposition for, no linking verb.
Formal register: use anse/betragte in official writing, synes/mene for everyday opinions.

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