Gøre | Danish Grammar

Gøre ("to do / to make") is the abstract action verb of Danish. You use it for doing things in general (hvad gør du? — "what are you doing?"), for the effect something has (det gør ondt — "it hurts"), and — most surprisingly for English speakers — as a pro-verb that stands in for a whole previous verb in short replies: det gør jeg ("I do"), det gjorde han ikke ("he didn't"). That last use mirrors English "do"-support almost exactly, which makes gøre feel deceptively familiar — until you have to choose between gøre and its more concrete cousin lave.

Principal parts

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) gøre	to do / to make
Present	gør	do(es) / make(s)
Past	gjorde	did / made
Past participle	gjort	done / made
Imperative	gør!	do!

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Gøre is a mixed verb: a regular -de past ending bolted onto an irregular stem with a vowel change. Watch the spelling traps — the past gjorde has a silent d (roughly "gyore"), and both the past and the participle gain a gj- spelling that the present gør does not have. Many beginners write *gørde or *gørt; the correct forms are gjorde and gjort.

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No agreement, as always: gør is the whole present (jeg gør, du gør, han gør, vi gør, de gør) and gjorde is the whole past. English splits do / does; Danish does not.

Present: gør

Subject	Form	Example
jeg	gør	jeg gør mit bedste
du	gør	du gør det godt
han / hun	gør	hun gør rent
vi	gør	vi gør det sammen
de	gør	de gør modstand

Hvad gør du, hvis bussen er forsinket?

What do you do if the bus is late?

Det gør ikke noget, det sker for alle.

It doesn't matter, it happens to everyone.

Past: gjorde

The past gjorde has the silent d — say it like "gyore."

Jeg gjorde alt, hvad jeg kunne.

I did everything I could.

Det gjorde virkelig ondt, da jeg faldt.

It really hurt when I fell.

Present perfect: har gjort

The perfect takes the default auxiliary har plus the participle gjort.

Hvad har du gjort ved håret? Det ser godt ud!

What have you done to your hair? It looks great!

Vi har gjort vores del af arbejdet.

We've done our part of the work.

Past perfect: havde gjort

Hun havde gjort rent, før gæsterne kom.

She had cleaned before the guests arrived.

Gøre as a pro-verb: det gør jeg

Here is the use that delights English speakers, because it works just like English "do." When you want to avoid repeating a whole verb phrase — in an answer, a tag, or a comparison — Danish replaces it with gør / gjorde. English does the same: "Do you smoke?" — "Yes, I do." Danish: Ryger du? — Ja, det gør jeg.

— Kan du lide kaffe? — Ja, det gør jeg.

— Do you like coffee? — Yes, I do.

Han bor i Aarhus, og det gør hans bror også.

He lives in Aarhus, and so does his brother.

Jeg troede, det ville regne, men det gjorde det ikke.

I thought it would rain, but it didn't.

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The little word det ("it / that") almost always rides along with the pro-verb: det gør jeg, det gør han ikke, det gjorde vi. It points back to the action just mentioned, exactly like the bare "do" of English — but Danish keeps the det where English drops it.

Imperative: gør!

Gør det nu, før du glemmer det.

Do it now, before you forget.

Gøre vs lave: do/make in the abstract vs the concrete

This is the choice that trips learners up, because English collapses both into "do" and "make." The rough division: gøre leans abstract — actions, effects, general "doing," and fixed expressions (gøre rent, gøre ondt, gøre sit bedste). Lave leans concrete — producing or fixing a physical thing, and "what are you up to" in casual speech (lave mad, lave lektier, lave en fejl). In everyday conversation many Danes also use lave very loosely for "do," so when in doubt about casual "what are you doing," Hvad laver du? is the idiomatic question.

Hvad laver du? — Jeg laver aftensmad.

What are you doing? — I'm making dinner. (concrete activity)

Det gør ondt, og det gør mig nervøs.

It hurts, and it makes me nervous. (effect, abstract)

For the full breakdown and a list of which expressions take which verb, see Lave and Collocations with Lave.

Common collocations and fixed expressions

gøre rent — to clean (the house)
gøre ondt — to hurt
gøre sit bedste — to do one's best
gøre nar af — to make fun of
gøre op med — to break with / settle accounts with
det gør ikke noget — it doesn't matter / never mind

Jeg skal gøre rent i dag, men jeg gør det modvilligt.

I have to clean today, but I'm doing it reluctantly.

A natural exchange

— Hvad har du gjort hele dagen? — Ikke så meget. Jeg gjorde rent i morges, og så lavede jeg ingenting. — Det gør jeg også tit om søndagen.

— What have you done all day? — Not much. I cleaned this morning, and then I did nothing. — I often do that on Sundays too.

Common mistakes

❌ Jeg gørde mit bedste.

Incorrect spelling — the past is gjorde, with gj- and a silent d, not gørde.

✅ Jeg gjorde mit bedste.

I did my best.

❌ Jeg vil lave aftensmaden gøre nu.

Wrong verb — producing food is concrete: use lave, not gøre.

✅ Jeg vil lave aftensmaden nu.

I'll make dinner now.

❌ — Kan du lide kaffe? — Ja, jeg gør.

Incomplete — the Danish pro-verb needs det: ja, det gør jeg.

✅ — Kan du lide kaffe? — Ja, det gør jeg.

— Do you like coffee? — Yes, I do.

❌ Det gørte ondt.

Incorrect — gøre is a mixed verb; the past participle is gjort, the past gjorde, never gørte.

✅ Det gjorde ondt.

It hurt.

❌ Gør du dine lektier nu?

Unidiomatic for homework — Danish makes/does lektier with lave: laver du dine lektier?

✅ Laver du dine lektier nu?

Are you doing your homework now?

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