Gælde means 'to apply', 'to be valid', 'to count' — it tells you what a rule, a ticket, an offer, or a statement covers and where its limits are. It is an irregular verb with a memorably odd past: gjaldt, where a j appears out of nowhere and the vowel shifts. Gælde rarely refers to a physical action; it is a verb of scope and validity, and it powers one of the most useful idioms in the language, det gælder om at... ('what matters is to...').
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (at) gælde | gælder | gjaldt | gjaldt / gældt | (rare) |
Gælde is irregular. The present gælder is regular-looking, but the past gjaldt inserts a j and changes the vowel quality — a strong, archaic-feeling form you simply have to memorise. The past participle has two accepted forms, gjaldt and gældt — Den Danske Ordbog lists gjaldt first, but gældt is equally standard, so har gjaldt and har gældt are both correct (perfect auxiliary have). Because gælde describes a state rather than a deliberate act, the imperative is essentially never used — you cannot order something to be valid.
Present: gælder
The everyday use is stating what a rule or offer covers, and from when or where it is in force.
Reglen gælder ikke her.
The rule doesn't apply here.
Tilbuddet gælder kun i dag.
The offer is valid only today.
Billetten gælder til alle zoner.
The ticket is valid for all zones.
gælde for — 'apply to'
To say a rule applies to a particular group or person, use gælde for.
Det samme gælder for de nye medarbejdere.
The same applies to the new employees.
Aldersgrænsen gælder også for medlemmer.
The age limit applies to members too.
Past: gjaldt
The irregular past gjaldt is the form to drill — and the one learners most often get wrong by writing a weak gældede.
Den gamle regel gjaldt kun for mænd.
The old rule applied only to men.
Rabatten gjaldt desværre ikke på udsalgsvarer.
Unfortunately the discount didn't apply to sale items.
Present perfect: har gældt
Gælde takes the auxiliary have — har gældt — because it describes a continuing state, not motion or a change of state in the subject.
Den regel har gældt i over hundrede år.
That rule has applied for over a hundred years.
The key idiom: det gælder om at...
This is the phrase to take away from the page. Det gælder om at... means 'the point is to...', 'what matters is to...', 'the trick is to...'. It frames what is essential or decisive in a situation, and it is everywhere in coaching, advice, and everyday encouragement.
Det gælder om at holde hovedet koldt.
The point is to keep a cool head.
Til en jobsamtale gælder det om at være sig selv.
In a job interview, what matters is being yourself.
A close relative is det gælder dit liv ('your life is at stake') and når det gælder ('when it really counts'), both built on the same idea of what is on the line.
Han leverer altid, når det gælder.
He always delivers when it really counts.
Gælde versus passe — 'apply' versus 'fit/be true'
Gælde and passe can both sit near English 'apply/hold', but they pull in different directions.
- gælde = to be valid or in force; to have scope. It is about rules, tickets, offers, and statements covering a domain.
- passe = to fit, to suit, or to be true/correct. It is about something matching, being the right size, or a claim being accurate.
Reglen gælder for alle, og det passer ikke, at der er undtagelser.
The rule applies to everyone, and it's not true that there are exceptions.
So a rule gælder (is in force), but a statement passer (is true); a ticket gælder (is valid), but a key passer (fits the lock). If you can replace it with "is valid / is in force", use gælde; if you mean "is true" or "fits", use passe.
Common Mistakes
❌ Reglen gældede ikke dengang.
Incorrect — gælde is irregular; the past is gjaldt, not 'gældede'.
✅ Reglen gjaldt ikke dengang.
The rule didn't apply back then.
❌ Tilbuddet gælder for at spare penge.
Wrong construction — to express 'the point is to', use det gælder om at.
✅ Det gælder om at spare penge.
The point is to save money.
❌ Det gælder, at himlen er blå.
Wrong verb — for 'it's true that', use passe (det passer).
✅ Det passer, at himlen er blå.
It's true that the sky is blue.
❌ Den samme regel gælder til børnene.
Wrong preposition — applying to someone is gælde for, not 'gælde til'.
✅ Den samme regel gælder for børnene.
The same rule applies to the children.
The standout English-speaker error is regularising the past to gældede: because the present gælder looks tame, learners assume a weak past. Gjaldt has to be learned by heart — but the payoff is the idiom det gælder om at..., which will serve you in advice, sport, and everyday encouragement for the rest of your Danish life.
Key takeaways
- Irregular pattern: gælde / gjaldt / gjaldt (or gældt). Never gældede.
- Perfect uses have: har gældt.
- gælde for = 'apply to'; det gælder om at... = 'what matters is to...'; når det gælder = 'when it really counts'.
- Use gælde for what is valid or in force; use passe for what fits or is true.
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