Give op means give up or surrender — the everyday verb for stopping when something gets too hard. It is built from the strong verb give (give) plus the particle op. Danish also has a one-word relative, opgive, made from the same two pieces in the opposite order — and the two are not interchangeable. This page shows you give op across the tenses and then draws the line between it and opgive.
Principal parts
Give op is built on the strong verb give. Only the verb conjugates; op is fixed.
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) give op | to give up / surrender |
| Present | giver op | give(s) up |
| Past | gav op | gave up |
| Past participle | givet op | given up |
| Imperative | Giv ikke op! | Don't give up! |
Give op = quit / surrender (intransitive)
Give op is intransitive in its core use: you give up, full stop, without naming an object. It describes a person stopping the struggle — abandoning the effort, conceding a contest, surrendering. It is everyday, emotional, and very common in encouragement: Giv ikke op! (Don't give up!).
Jeg giver aldrig op, selv når det er svært.
I never give up, even when it's hard.
Efter tre timer i køen gav vi op og tog hjem.
After three hours in the queue we gave up and went home.
Du er så tæt på målet — du må ikke give op nu!
You're so close to the finish — you mustn't give up now!
When you do want to name what you are giving up on, Danish uses give op over for (give up in the face of) or, more often, switches to the verb opgive with a direct object (see below).
Present tense
Han giver op alt for let, hver gang noget bliver kompliceret.
He gives up far too easily whenever something gets complicated.
Vi giver ikke op, før vi har prøvet alt.
We won't give up until we've tried everything.
Past tense
The past is gav (strong verb), with op unchanged.
Holdet gav op i sidste halvleg, og kampen var tabt.
The team gave up in the final half, and the match was lost.
Hun gav op, da lægen sagde, det var håbløst.
She gave up when the doctor said it was hopeless.
Present perfect
The perfect uses har plus the participle givet, with op intact.
Mange har givet op, men det har jeg ikke tænkt mig.
Many have given up, but I don't intend to.
Har du allerede givet op? Vi er kun halvvejs.
Have you given up already? We're only halfway.
Common collocations
- give op — give up, surrender (intransitive)
- Giv ikke op! / Aldrig give op! — Don't give up! / Never give up!
- give helt op — give up entirely
- give op over for
- noun — give up in the face of (a difficulty, an opponent)
Til sidst gav vi helt op over for bureaukratiet.
In the end we gave up entirely in the face of the bureaucracy.
Give op vs. opgive
Here is the contrast that matters. Give op and opgive are made of the same two elements (give + op), but they differ in word order, transitivity, and register:
| give op | opgive | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | give up, surrender | abandon, relinquish, give up on |
| Object | intransitive (no object) | transitive (takes an object) |
| Register | everyday, emotional | more formal / neutral |
| Example | Jeg giver op. | Jeg opgiver håbet. |
So when there is no object — I quit, I surrender — you use give op. When you name the thing being abandoned — give up hope, abandon a plan, drop a course — you use opgive with that object: opgive håbet, opgive planen, opgive et fag. The principal parts of opgive mirror give: opgiver / opgav / opgivet. See give for the base verb behind both.
Han opgav håbet om at finde nøglerne og købte en ny lås.
He gave up hope of finding the keys and bought a new lock.
Vi opgav planen, men vi gav ikke op.
We abandoned the plan, but we didn't give up.
That last sentence captures the whole distinction: you opgiver a specific plan (an object), but you, as a person, refuse to give op.
Mini-dialogue
— Jeg kan ikke løse den her opgave. Jeg giver op. — Nej, giv ikke op! Du var lige ved at have den. — Fint, men hvis jeg ikke klarer det nu, opgiver jeg hele kurset.
— I can't solve this problem. I give up. — No, don't give up! You almost had it. — Fine, but if I don't manage it now, I'm dropping the whole course.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg opgiver! Det er for svært. — meaning 'I surrender'.
Incorrect — opgive needs an object; for the bare 'I give up' use give op.
✅ Jeg giver op! Det er for svært.
Correct — give op for intransitive 'give up / surrender'.
❌ Han gav håbet op. — meaning 'he gave up hope'.
Incorrect (unnatural) — with an abstract object like håbet, idiomatic Danish uses opgive.
✅ Han opgav håbet.
Correct — opgive + object: opgav håbet.
❌ Giv ikke ud! — for 'don't give up'.
Incorrect — the particle is op, not ud; giv ud means something else.
✅ Giv ikke op!
Correct — Giv ikke op! for 'don't give up'.
❌ Har du give op allerede?
Incorrect — after har you need the participle givet, not the infinitive.
✅ Har du givet op allerede?
Correct — har + givet op.
Key takeaways
- give op = give up / surrender, intransitive and everyday. Conjugate only give (giver / gav / givet); op is fixed.
- Giv ikke op! is the standard encouragement.
- To name what you abandon, switch to the more formal opgive
- object: opgive håbet, opgive planen.
- Same elements, different order: give op (you quit) vs. opgive (you abandon something specific).
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- GiveA1 — Full reference for give ('to give') — principal parts, all core tenses in natural sentences, the two-object word order (giver ham bogen), and the everyday idiom det giver mening.
- KommeA2 — Full reference for the strong verb komme ('to come'), its være-perfect, and the high-value idiom komme til at.
- The ImperativeA1 — How to give commands, requests and suggestions in Danish — the bare-stem imperative, polite softeners, and the idiomatic 'don't' with lad være med at.