Fortsætte ('to continue') is a mixed verb. It changes its stem vowel in the past — æ → a, an ablaut shift like the strong verbs — but its past participle ends in -t the way weak participles do. That blend of a vowel-changing past and a dental ending is exactly what "mixed" means, and fortsætte follows the same pattern as its base verb sætte ('to put, to set').
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (at) fortsætte | fortsætter | fortsatte | fortsat | fortsæt |
The perfect is usually built with have: jeg har fortsat ('I have continued'). Whenever fortsætte takes an object — har fortsat projektet, har fortsat arbejdet — the auxiliary is have, because the focus is on the activity the subject carries on. The logic is that transitive fortsætte names the activity of going on, not the arrival at a new place; the verbs that always take være — ankomme, komme, blive — are the ones that land you in a new state or location, and continuing an activity is not arriving. In the purely intransitive directional sense ("we went on along the path"), Danish also allows være — vi er fortsat ad stien — exactly as it does for other motion verbs; the dictionary lists fortsætte with both auxiliaries for this reason. As a learner, anchor on the safe and far more common transitive pattern har fortsat, and treat er fortsat as the motion variant you will mostly meet in writing.
Why does this verb count as "mixed" rather than fully strong or fully weak? A purely strong verb would have a vowel-changed participle with no dental ending (compare tage → taget); a purely weak verb would keep its vowel and add -ede or -te (compare lave → lavede). Fortsætte does a bit of each: the past fortsatte changes the vowel like a strong verb, but the participle fortsat takes the dental -t like a weak one. This small group of "mixed" or "irregular weak" verbs — sætte, række, træffe and their prefixed relatives — is worth learning as a set, because once you see the æ → a → (single) t shape in one of them, you can predict it in all.
Mixed past: fortsatte, not fortsættede
The base sætte has the past satte, and fortsætte inherits it directly: fortsatte. The vowel drops from æ to a and the consonant doubles. Because the present fortsætter looks like a regular verb, learners often invent a fully weak past fortsættede — but that form is wrong.
Mødet fortsatte til langt ud på aftenen.
The meeting continued late into the evening.
Vi fortsatte ad stien, indtil det blev mørkt.
We continued along the path until it got dark.
Trods kritikken har de fortsat projektet.
Despite the criticism they have continued the project.
The participle fortsat loses the double t of the present and ends in a single one — fortsat, not fortsatt. Keep that single t in writing.
Transitive and intransitive
Fortsætte works both ways. With an object it means "continue something"; without one it means "carry on, go on."
Læreren fortsatte timen efter pausen.
The teacher continued the lesson after the break.
Bare fortsæt — jeg lytter.
Just go on — I'm listening.
Continuing to do something: fortsætte med at
To say "continue doing something," Danish does not put a bare infinitive after fortsætte. It uses the fixed frame fortsætte med at + infinitive. The med ('with') is obligatory; dropping it is the most common error English speakers make, because English allows "continue to do" with no preposition.
Hun fortsatte med at tale, som om intet var hændt.
She continued talking as if nothing had happened.
Vi må fortsætte med at øve os, hvis vi vil blive bedre.
We have to keep practising if we want to get better.
For more on when Danish requires at before an infinitive and when it omits it, see [verbs/at-infinitive-uses].
fortsat as an adverb
The past participle fortsat doubles as a very common adverb meaning 'still, continuously'. In this use it modifies the whole clause and is a touch more formal than the everyday stadig.
Priserne stiger fortsat.
Prices are still rising.
Vi ønsker dig fortsat god bedring.
We wish you a continued good recovery.
Contrast: fortsætte vs blive ved (med at)
In casual speech, Danes often prefer blive ved (med at) for "keep on, keep doing." The two overlap, but there is a nuance:
- Fortsætte med at is neutral and works in every register, from conversation to official writing.
- Blive ved med at (informal) leans toward "keep on and on," sometimes with a hint of persistence or even mild annoyance — Han bliver ved med at spørge ('He keeps on asking').
Børnene blev ved med at grine.
The children kept on laughing.
Selskabet vil fortsætte væksten i udlandet.
The company will continue its growth abroad.
In formal or written contexts — a report, a news article, a contract — reach for fortsætte. In a chat with friends, blive ved often sounds more natural. There is also a subtle aspectual difference English speakers should notice: fortsætte med at tends to mean "resume or carry an activity onward," often after a pause, whereas blive ved med at stresses uninterrupted persistence. Efter frokost fortsatte vi mødet ("after lunch we continued the meeting") picks the activity back up; han blev ved med at klage ("he kept on complaining") emphasises that it never let up.
Efter en kort pause fortsatte forhandlingerne.
After a short break the negotiations continued.
Hvorfor bliver du ved med at afbryde mig?
Why do you keep interrupting me?
Common mistakes
❌ Mødet fortsættede til kl. 20.
Incorrect — fortsætte is mixed, so the past is fortsatte.
✅ Mødet fortsatte til kl. 20.
The meeting continued until 8 p.m.
❌ Hun fortsatte at tale.
Incorrect — fortsætte needs med before at.
✅ Hun fortsatte med at tale.
She continued talking.
❌ Vi har fortsætter arbejdet.
Incorrect — the perfect needs the participle fortsat, not the present.
✅ Vi har fortsat arbejdet.
We have continued the work.
❌ Priserne stiger fortsætter.
Incorrect — the adverb 'still' is fortsat, not the verb form.
✅ Priserne stiger fortsat.
Prices are still rising.
Key takeaways
- Principal parts: fortsætte – fortsætter – fortsatte – fortsat, imperative fortsæt. Mixed: vowel changes (æ → a), participle ends in -t.
- Perfect with have: har fortsat. No subject agreement.
- "Continue doing" = fortsætte med at
- infinitive — the med is required.
- Fortsat also means 'still' as an adverb. Casual alternative for the verb: blive ved (med at) (informal).
The base verb is covered in [verb-reference/saette]; for another blive-particle verb, see [verb-reference/blive-til].
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- SætteA2 — The verb sætte — to put, place or set (in a seated/upright position) — its reflexive sætte sig 'sit down', and the sætte/stille/lægge placement triad, with full principal parts and tenses.
- Blive vedB1 — How to use the phrasal verb blive ved ('to continue, keep on'), its blive ved med at construction, and how it differs from fortsætte and blive til.
- Uses of the InfinitiveB1 — Where the bare infinitive and the at-infinitive appear in Danish — after modals, after other verbs and prepositions, as subject or object, in for at / uden at / ved at, and as instructions on signs.