Betale | Danish Grammar

Betale ("to pay") is the verb you need at every till, restaurant and invoice. It is a regular weak -te verb built from the stem tale with the unstressed prefix be- — and that prefix is the first thing to get right: the stress falls on -ta- (be-TA-le), not on be-. The grammatical trap for English speakers is the split between paying a thing and paying for a thing: you betaler regningen ("pay the bill") directly, but you betaler for maden ("pay for the food"). Get the for right and you sound native; drop it and you sound like a learner.

Principal parts

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) betale	to pay
Present	betaler	pay(s)
Past	betalte	paid
Past participle	betalt	paid
Imperative	betal!	pay!

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Betale is a regular weak -te verb: past betalte, participle betalt. The prefix be- is unstressed and never separates from the verb — say be-TA-le with the weight on ta. And as always, no agreement — betaler is the whole present (jeg betaler, du betaler, hun betaler, vi betaler, de betaler) and betalte the whole past, for every subject.

Present: betaler

Subject	Form	Example
jeg	betaler	jeg betaler med kort
du	betaler	du betaler for kaffen
han / hun	betaler	hun betaler regningen
vi	betaler	vi betaler hver for sig
de	betaler	de betaler altid til tiden

Jeg betaler med kort — tager I MobilePay?

I'll pay by card — do you take MobilePay?

Vi betaler hver for sig, ikke?

We're paying separately, right?

Betale vs betale for: the key split

Pay attention to whether the object is the amount/bill or the goods. You betaler a bill, an amount, or a person directly — no preposition. But you betaler for the goods or service you receive. In English "pay" floats freely; in Danish the for is obligatory whenever the object is the thing you got in return.

Jeg betalte regningen, og du betaler for maden næste gang.

I paid the bill, and you'll pay for the food next time.

Hvem betaler for billetterne?

Who's paying for the tickets?

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Quick rule: betale + bill / amount / person (no preposition), but betale for + the goods. Betal regningen ("pay the bill") — betal for kaffen ("pay for the coffee"). If you can replace the object with "the invoice/the sum," drop for; if it's "the stuff you bought," keep for.

Past: betalte

Vi betalte alt for meget for det hotelværelse.

We paid far too much for that hotel room.

Han betalte kontant og bad om en kvittering.

He paid cash and asked for a receipt.

Present perfect: har betalt

The perfect uses the default auxiliary har plus the participle betalt.

Har du betalt huslejen for denne måned?

Have you paid the rent for this month?

Jeg har allerede betalt for os begge to.

I've already paid for both of us.

Betale tilbage and betale af på

Two particle phrases handle debts. Betale tilbage ("pay back") is returning money you borrowed. Betale af på ("pay off / pay down") is making instalments toward a larger debt or loan — the af på signals chipping away at a sum over time.

Jeg betaler dig de hundrede kroner tilbage i morgen.

I'll pay you back the hundred kroner tomorrow.

Vi betaler stadig af på lånet til lejligheden.

We're still paying off the loan on the flat.

The idiom: det betaler sig

The reflexive idiom det betaler sig means "it pays off / it's worth it" — literally "it pays itself." It is the everyday way to say an effort or expense is worthwhile. The negative det betaler sig ikke means "it's not worth it."

Det betaler sig at købe den lidt dyrere, men holdbare model.

It pays to buy the slightly pricier but durable model.

Det betaler sig ikke at reparere den gamle bil mere.

It's not worth repairing the old car anymore.

The noun: en betaling

From betale comes en betaling ("a payment"), plural betalinger — the word on invoices and bank apps.

Betalingen gik ikke igennem — prøv et andet kort. (formal)

The payment didn't go through — try another card.

Imperative: betal!

Betal nu regningen, før de lukker for strømmen.

Pay the bill now, before they cut off the electricity.

Common collocations and fixed expressions

betale for (noget) — to pay for (something)
betale regningen / huslejen — to pay the bill / rent
betale tilbage — to pay back
betale af på (et lån) — to pay off (a loan)
det betaler sig — it pays off, it's worth it
betale kontant / med kort — to pay cash / by card

De fleste danskere betaler med kort eller MobilePay, sjældent kontant.

Most Danes pay by card or MobilePay, rarely in cash.

A natural exchange

— Har du betalt for billetterne? — Ja, jeg betalte i går, og du kan bare betale mig tilbage. — Fint. Betaler det sig overhovedet at køre, eller skal vi tage toget? — Toget betaler sig bedst, tror jeg.

— Have you paid for the tickets? — Yes, I paid yesterday, and you can just pay me back. — Fine. Is it even worth driving, or should we take the train? — The train is the best value, I think.

You can see the whole range here: betalt for (pay for the goods), betalte (past), betale tilbage (pay back) and det betaler sig (it's worth it).

Common mistakes

❌ Jeg vil gerne betale maden.

Missing for — you pay FOR the goods: betale for maden (you pay the bill directly, though).

✅ Jeg vil gerne betale for maden.

I'd like to pay for the food.

❌ Hun betalte for regningen.

Too much — you pay a bill directly, no for: betale regningen.

✅ Hun betalte regningen.

She paid the bill.

❌ Jeg betalede med kort.

Incorrect past — betale takes -te: betalte, not betalede.

✅ Jeg betalte med kort.

I paid by card.

❌ Det betaler ikke sig at reparere den.

Word order — the negation follows the reflexive: det betaler sig ikke.

✅ Det betaler sig ikke at reparere den.

It's not worth repairing it.

❌ Vi betaler stadig på lånet.

Wrong particle — to pay down a loan is betale af på, not just betale på.

✅ Vi betaler stadig af på lånet.

We're still paying off the loan.

For shopping and till vocabulary, see Shopping expressions; for prices and amounts, see Dates, time and numbers.

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