Forbyde | Danish Grammar

Forbyde ("to forbid, prohibit, ban") is the exact opposite of tillade. It is built on the strong base byde ("to bid, command, offer"), so it inflects with the same y–ø–u ablaut as byde / bød / budt and tilbyde / tilbød / tilbudt: forbyde → forbød → forbudt. You meet its participle constantly on signs and notices — Rygning forbudt, Adgang forbudt — and the related noun et forbud ("a ban") is everywhere in news writing. This page lays out the principal parts, the tenses, the forbyde nogen at frame, and the orthographic trap in the participle.

Principal parts

Forbyde is strong: the vowel changes through the paradigm — present y, past ø, participle u — and the past adds no ending. Do not form a weak forbydede.

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) forbyde	to forbid / ban
Present	forbyder	forbid(s)
Past (datid)	forbød	forbade / banned
Past participle	(har) forbudt	forbidden / banned
Imperative	forbyd!	forbid!

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The three stem vowels are the whole story: y → ø → u (forbyder – forbød – forbudt). This is the same ablaut as byde, skyde (skød / skudt) and tilbyde. Learn the family once and you get all of them. See the strong past tense overview.

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No agreement: forbyder is the entire present, forbød the entire past, for every subject. Watch the participle — the y becomes u: forbudt, not "forbydt" and not "forbødt."

Across the tenses

The perfect takes har — forbyde is a transitive "have"-verb (you forbid something), never an er-verb:

Tense	Example	English
Present	Loven forbyder salg til mindreårige.	The law forbids sale to minors.
Past	Lægen forbød ham at løfte tungt.	The doctor forbade him to lift anything heavy.
Present perfect	Kommunen har forbudt biler i centrum.	The municipality has banned cars in the centre.

Mine forældre forbød mig at se den film, da jeg var lille.

My parents forbade me to watch that film when I was little.

Flere lande har forbudt engangsplastik.

Several countries have banned single-use plastic.

Forbyde nogen at + infinitive

The core frame is forbyde nogen at + infinitive — "forbid someone to do something." Like tillade (and unlike bare-infinitive lade), it keeps the at before the second verb.

Reglerne forbyder gæster at bruge køkkenet efter midnat.

The rules forbid guests to use the kitchen after midnight.

Ingen kan forbyde dig at sige din mening.

No one can forbid you to speak your mind.

Det er forbudt — the passive of signs

By far the most frequent shape is the passive predicate det er forbudt ("it is forbidden") and the bare participle on signs. The related noun et forbud ("a ban, prohibition") drives compounds like rygeforbud (smoking ban), indrejseforbud (entry ban) and forbudszone.

Det er forbudt at fodre dyrene i parken.

It is forbidden to feed the animals in the park.

Der er kommet et generelt rygeforbud på restauranter.

A general smoking ban has come into force in restaurants.

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On signs you will see the participle alone: Rygning forbudt ("No smoking"), Adgang forbudt ("No entry"), Parkering forbudt ("No parking"). Read these as compressed det er forbudt at … — the everyday face of the verb.

In speech, Danes more often express a prohibition with the modal må ikke ("must not / may not") than with forbyde. Use forbyde when a rule, law or authority does the forbidding; use må ikke for the everyday "you're not allowed."

Du må ikke parkere her — der er parkering forbudt.

You're not allowed to park here — parking is prohibited.

Loven forbyder det, så du må ikke gøre det.

The law forbids it, so you mustn't do it.

The passive and the byde family

Because forbyde is the verb of rules, it appears constantly in the passive, and Danish offers two passives to choose from. The s-passive (forbydes) is compact and impersonal, the typical register of statutes and official notices; the blive-passive (blive forbudt) foregrounds the event of something becoming banned. Both are correct; the s-passive simply reads more formally.

Rygning forbydes i alle offentlige bygninger.

Smoking is prohibited in all public buildings.

Stoffet blev forbudt sidste år.

The substance was banned last year.

It also helps to see forbyde as one member of a whole byde family that shares the y → ø → u ablaut. Learn the pattern once and the whole set comes free:

Verb	Past	Participle	Meaning
byde	bød	budt	offer, bid, command
forbyde	forbød	forbudt	forbid, ban
tilbyde	tilbød	tilbudt	offer
byde ind	bød ind	budt ind	bid (e.g. at auction); chip in

Han bød mig indenfor og tilbød mig en kop kaffe.

He invited me in and offered me a cup of coffee.

Common mistakes

❌ Lægen forbydede ham at ryge.

Wrong — forbyde is strong; the weak past forbydede does not exist.

✅ Lægen forbød ham at ryge.

Correct: the strong past is forbød.

❌ Kommunen har forbød biler i centrum.

Wrong — that's the past tense used as a participle. The participle is forbudt.

✅ Kommunen har forbudt biler i centrum.

Correct: har forbudt = 'has banned.'

❌ Det er forbødt at ryge her.

Wrong vowel — the participle has u, not ø: forbudt.

✅ Det er forbudt at ryge her.

It is forbidden to smoke here.

❌ Reglerne forbyder gæster bruge køkkenet.

Wrong — forbyde keeps at before the infinitive.

✅ Reglerne forbyder gæster at bruge køkkenet.

Correct: forbyde nogen at + infinitive.

❌ Politiet forbudt demonstrationen.

Wrong — a finite past is needed here, not the bare participle: forbød.

✅ Politiet forbød demonstrationen.

The police banned the demonstration.

Key takeaways

Forbyde is strong with y → ø → u ablaut: forbyder – forbød – forbudt, one form per tense, every subject.
The perfect takes har: har forbudt.
Frame: forbyde nogen at
- infinitive (keeps at).
Watch the participle vowel: forbudt (u), not forbødt or forbydt.
The everyday face is the passive det er forbudt and signs like Rygning forbudt; in speech, må ikke often does the same job. The opposite verb is tillade; its sibling on the same byde base is tilbyde.

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