Beslutte ("to decide") is the verb of the considered, deliberate decision — the kind you reach after weighing options, the kind a committee or a court reaches. It is mechanically simple: a perfectly regular weak verb. The real work for English speakers lies elsewhere — in the reflexive beslutte sig for ("to make up one's mind to"), which has no neat English parallel, and in the noun beslutning, which collocates with træffe or tage (not gøre / "make"). Get those two points right and you will use this verb like a native.
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) beslutte | to decide |
| Present | beslutter | decide(s) |
| Past | besluttede | decided |
| Past participle | besluttet | decided |
| Imperative | beslut! | decide! |
Present: beslutter
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | beslutter | jeg beslutter mig |
| du | beslutter | du beslutter selv |
| han / hun | beslutter | hun beslutter at blive |
| vi | beslutter | vi beslutter det sammen |
| de | beslutter | de beslutter på mødet |
Bestyrelsen beslutter selv, hvordan pengene skal bruges.
The board itself decides how the money is to be spent.
Vi beslutter det på fredag, når alle er tilbage.
We'll decide it on Friday, when everyone's back.
beslutte at + infinitive
In its plain transitive use, beslutte takes at + infinitive ("decide to do something") or a at-clause ("decide that..."). This is the institutional, on-the-record sense — a body or a person reaching a formal decision.
Regeringen besluttede at hæve afgiften fra årsskiftet.
The government decided to raise the duty from the turn of the year.
Retten besluttede, at sagen skulle genoptages.
The court decided that the case should be reopened.
The big point: reflexive beslutte sig for
This is where English speakers stumble. For a personal decision — "I made up my mind" — Danish strongly prefers the reflexive beslutte sig, and the thing decided on is introduced by for: beslutte sig for.
Til sidst besluttede jeg mig for at sige op.
In the end I made up my mind to resign.
Hun kunne ikke beslutte sig for, hvilken bil hun ville købe.
She couldn't make up her mind which car she wanted to buy.
The reflexive pronoun matches the subject: jeg beslutter *mig, du beslutter dig, hun beslutter sig, vi beslutter os, de beslutter sig*. Leaving out the reflexive when describing a personal choice sounds incomplete or oddly bureaucratic, as if a person were issuing an official ruling about their own life.
Han har stadig ikke besluttet sig for, om han vil flytte.
He still hasn't made up his mind about whether to move.
The noun: en beslutning
The noun en beslutning ("a decision") is high-frequency and collocates with træffe (formal) or tage (everyday) — never gøre. This is a classic transfer trap: English "make a decision" tempts learners into gøre en beslutning, which is simply not Danish.
Vi er nødt til at træffe en beslutning inden mandag.
We have to make a decision before Monday. (formal)
Det var en svær beslutning at tage.
It was a hard decision to make.
| Danish | English | Register |
|---|---|---|
| træffe en beslutning | to make a decision | formal / written |
| tage en beslutning | to make a decision | everyday |
| en beslutning om at... | a decision to... | neutral |
| en hastig / velovervejet beslutning | a hasty / well-considered decision | neutral |
beslutte vs bestemme
Danish has two everyday verbs of deciding, and they are not interchangeable. Beslutte is the weightier, more deliberate "decide / resolve." Bestemme is broader: "to decide," yes, but also "to determine," "to fix," and crucially "to be the boss / call the shots."
| Verb | Core sense | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| beslutte | reach a considered decision | boards, courts, life choices (often beslutte sig for) |
| bestemme | decide / determine / be in charge | "who's deciding?", rules, who's in control |
Hvem bestemmer egentlig her?
Who's actually in charge here?
Du bestemmer — jeg er ligeglad med, hvor vi spiser.
You decide — I don't mind where we eat.
Efter lang tids tøven besluttede de at sælge huset.
After a long hesitation they decided to sell the house.
Note how bestemme carries the "have authority" flavour that beslutte lacks: du bestemmer ("you're the boss / it's your call"), never du beslutter in that idiom.
Common collocations and fixed expressions
- beslutte sig for (at) — to make up one's mind to
- træffe / tage en beslutning — to make a decision
- en velovervejet beslutning — a considered decision
- det er besluttet — it has been decided (passive, on-the-record)
Sagen er afgjort — det er besluttet, og der er ikke mere at tale om.
The matter is settled — it's been decided, and there's nothing more to discuss.
Common mistakes
❌ Vi skal gøre en beslutning i dag.
Calque of 'make a decision' — Danish uses træffe or tage, never gøre.
✅ Vi skal træffe en beslutning i dag.
We have to make a decision today.
❌ Jeg besluttede at flytte til København (om en personlig livsbeslutning).
For a personal life choice Danish prefers the reflexive beslutte sig for.
✅ Jeg besluttede mig for at flytte til København.
I made up my mind to move to Copenhagen.
❌ Hun har ikke beslutet sig endnu.
Wrong participle — the regular -ede verb gives besluttet, with double t.
✅ Hun har ikke besluttet sig endnu.
She hasn't made up her mind yet.
❌ Han besluttede sig om at sige op.
Wrong preposition — beslutte sig takes for, not om.
✅ Han besluttede sig for at sige op.
He made up his mind to resign.
❌ Hvem beslutter her?
For 'who's in charge?' Danish uses bestemme, not beslutte.
✅ Hvem bestemmer her?
Who's in charge here?
Key takeaways
- beslutter / besluttede / besluttet — perfectly regular -ede weak verb; perfect is har besluttet.
- For a personal decision, use the reflexive beslutte sig for (at) — the sig + for is essential.
- The noun en beslutning pairs with træffe (formal) or tage (everyday), never gøre.
- Contrast bestemme, which also means "to be in charge" — du bestemmer, never du beslutter.
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