Gentage ('to repeat, to say again') is built from the prefix gen- ('re-, again') and the strong verb tage ('to take'). It conjugates exactly like tage, so if you know tage – tog – taget, you already know gentage – gentog – gentaget. The gen- prefix is unstressed and bonded to the verb, which is what makes gentage a single word rather than the separable phrase tage igen.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (at) gentage | gentager | gentog | gentaget | gentag |
The perfect is built with have: jeg har gentaget ('I have repeated'). It is a transitive activity verb — you repeat something — so have is the only possible auxiliary; være never appears here. The være/have choice only becomes a live question with verbs of motion and change of state (ankomme, blive, dø); a verb that simply acts on an object, like gentage, never goes anywhere near være. If you can ask "repeated what?" and get an answer, the auxiliary is have.
A word on why gentage is strong rather than weak. It is not a freely coined modern word; it was built long ago on the strong verb tage, and so it simply carried tage's irregular conjugation along with it. This is a general principle of Danish prefix verbs: a prefix never changes how a verb conjugates. Tage – tog – taget becomes gentage – gentog – gentaget, optage – optog – optaget ('record, occupy'), modtage – modtog – modtaget ('receive'), all sharing the identical strong past -tog and participle -taget. Learn tage once and you unlock a whole family.
Strong past: gentog, not gentagede
Because tage has the strong past tog, gentage has gentog. The participle is gentaget, parallel to taget. The present gentager tempts learners into a weak past gentagede, but that form does not exist — the strong vowel change a → o is obligatory.
Han gentog spørgsmålet, så alle kunne høre det.
He repeated the question so everyone could hear it.
Læreren gentog forklaringen langsommere.
The teacher repeated the explanation more slowly.
Jeg har gentaget det mange gange nu.
I have repeated it many times now.
The gen- prefix
The bound prefix gen- means 'again, re-' and turns up in a whole family of words. It is always unstressed and never separates from the verb, which is how Danish marks it as inseparable (unlike a stressed particle such as igen, which stands apart). Recognising gen- lets you decode many words at a glance:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gentage | to repeat (lit. "re-take") |
| genbruge | to reuse, to recycle |
| genåbne | to reopen |
| genkende | to recognise |
| genvinde | to regain, to recover |
For how Danish prefixes attach to and reshape verbs, see [word-formation/prefixes].
Common derivatives and expressions
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gentage sig | to recur, to happen again |
| en gentagelse | a repetition |
| gentagne gange | repeatedly, on several occasions |
Historien gentager sig.
History repeats itself.
Vi vil ikke have, at fejlen gentager sig.
We don't want the mistake to recur.
Han er blevet advaret gentagne gange.
He has been warned repeatedly.
In gentage sig, the reflexive pronoun matches the subject: det gentager sig, de gentager sig. The adjective form gentagne (plural/definite of gentaget) appears in the fixed phrase gentagne gange ('repeated times' = repeatedly).
The redundancy trap: "repeat again"
English speakers often say "could you repeat that again?" — but repeat already contains the idea of "again," so the again is redundant. Danish gentage carries the same built-in gen- ('again'), so adding igen doubles up in exactly the same way. Say simply gentage, not gentage igen.
Kan du gentage det?
Could you repeat that?
If you genuinely want to stress that something is being said one more time on top of earlier repetitions, Danes say sige det en gang til ('say it one more time') rather than stacking gentage and igen.
Kan du sige det en gang til?
Could you say that one more time?
Contrast: gentage vs tage igen
Tage igen (the bare verb plus the stressed particle igen) is not a synonym for gentage. It literally means 'take again / take back', as in retrieving an object or, idiomatically, getting one's own back.
Han tog bogen igen fra hylden.
He took the book again from the shelf.
So gentage = repeat (an action, a statement); tage igen = take (something) again. They are not interchangeable, even though both involve tage and the idea of "again."
The structural difference is visible in the word order. In gentage, the prefix gen- is welded to the front of the verb and never moves, so it stays put in every tense: jeg gentager det, jeg gentog det. In tage igen, the igen is a free, stressed adverb that drifts to the end of the clause and can be separated from the verb by the object: jeg tager bogen igen. Whenever you see the "again" element sitting at the end of the sentence, you are dealing with the literal tage igen, not with gentage.
Kan vi tage øvelsen igen fra begyndelsen?
Can we do the exercise again from the beginning?
Common mistakes
❌ Læreren gentagede sætningen.
Incorrect — gentage is strong; the past is gentog.
✅ Læreren gentog sætningen.
The teacher repeated the sentence.
❌ Kan du gentage det igen?
Incorrect — gentage already means 'say again', so igen is redundant.
✅ Kan du gentage det?
Could you repeat that?
❌ Jeg har gentog det flere gange.
Incorrect — the perfect needs the participle gentaget, not the past gentog.
✅ Jeg har gentaget det flere gange.
I have repeated it several times.
❌ Fejlen gentager.
Incorrect — in the 'recur' sense gentage is reflexive: gentage sig.
✅ Fejlen gentager sig.
The mistake recurs.
Key takeaways
- Principal parts: gentage – gentager – gentog – gentaget, imperative gentag. Strong (the tage class), vowel a → o → a.
- Perfect with have: har gentaget. No subject agreement.
- The gen- prefix means 'again/re-', so gentage igen is redundant — drop the igen.
- Gentage sig = recur; en gentagelse = a repetition; gentagne gange = repeatedly. Don't confuse with tage igen ('take again').
The base verb is at [verb-reference/tage]; for the strong-past system, see [verbs/past-strong-overview].
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- TageA2 — Full reference for the strong verb tage ('to take'), the silent -g, and its central role in talking about transport.
- Common PrefixesC1 — The productive Danish prefixes — u-, be-, for-, an-, und-, gen-, mis-, sam-, mod-, over-, under- — their meanings, and why they are unstressed and inseparable.
- Strong Verbs: Ablaut PatternsA2 — Danish strong verbs form their past by changing the stem vowel — learn the major ablaut series as families to turn memorisation into pattern recognition.