Lade | Danish Grammar

Lade means "to let" or "to allow," but you will meet it most often inside two fixed frames that every learner needs from day one: lad os ("let's") for suggestions, and lade være (med) ("don't / stop / refrain from") for the natural Danish way of telling someone not to do something. Master those two and you have unlocked the most useful corners of this very common verb.

Principal parts

Lade is a strong verb: its past tense is formed by a vowel change (a → o), not by adding an ending.

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) lade	(to) let / allow
Present	lader	let(s) / allow(s)
Past	lod	let / allowed
Past participle	ladet	let / allowed
Imperative	lad!	let!

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Danish verbs never change for person or number. One present form (lader) and one past form (lod) cover jeg, du, han, hun, vi, I, de — every subject. There is no "-s" on the third person and no plural ending. This is a huge simplification compared to English, where you still juggle "let / lets."

The participle is usually ladet (you may also see the contracted ladt in some compounds), and the present perfect uses har as its auxiliary: jeg har ladet.

Lade = to let / allow

In its plain meaning, lade lets someone do something. It is typically followed by a person and a bare infinitive (no at).

Lad mig hjælpe dig med tasken.

Let me help you with the bag.

Mine forældre lader mig ikke køre bil endnu.

My parents won't let me drive a car yet.

Han lod barnet sove videre.

He let the child keep sleeping.

Notice that after lade the second verb stays in its bare form: lade mig hjælpe, lader mig køre, lod barnet sove. There is no at here, exactly as English says "let me help," not "let me to help."

Lad os — "let's"

The single most useful thing lade does is form suggestions. Lad os + a bare infinitive is the Danish "let's …".

Lad os tage en kop kaffe.

Let's have a cup of coffee.

Lad os mødes klokken syv udenfor biografen.

Let's meet at seven outside the cinema.

Lad os ikke skændes om det nu.

Let's not argue about it now.

The verb after os is bare — never at. Danish does not insert "to" here, just as English does not say "let's to go." (See suggestions and invitations for the full range of ways to propose something.)

Lade som om — "pretend"

The fixed expression lade som om means "to pretend (that)." Literally it is "act as if."

Hun lod som om hun ikke havde hørt mig.

She pretended she hadn't heard me.

Lad nu ikke som om du ikke vidste det.

Don't go pretending you didn't know.

Lade være (med) — the natural Danish "don't"

This is the frame learners most often miss. To tell someone not to do something, Danish does not usually say gør ikke ("don't do"). The idiomatic negative imperative is lad være med at + infinitive — literally "let it be with …," i.e. "leave it alone / refrain from."

Lad være med at råbe — jeg kan godt høre dig.

Stop shouting — I can hear you just fine.

Lad nu være med at spise alle kagerne.

Now don't go eating all the cakes.

On its own, lad være! is a complete, sharp "stop it! / don't!":

Lad være! Det gør ondt.

Stop it! That hurts.

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Lad os ("let's") and lad være med at … ("don't …") are the two frames to drill until they are automatic. They cover an enormous amount of everyday speech, and both are built on this one verb. For the grammar of bare commands, see the imperative.

Across the tenses

Present, past, and present perfect all behave regularly around the strong past lod:

Tense	Example	English
Present	Jeg lader døren stå åben.	I'm leaving the door open.
Past	Jeg lod døren stå åben.	I left the door open.
Present perfect	Jeg har ladet døren stå åben.	I've left the door open.

Vi lod børnene blive oppe lidt længere i går.

We let the kids stay up a bit longer yesterday.

Common collocations

lad os … — let's … (suggestion)
lade være (med at) … — don't / stop / refrain from …
lade som om … — pretend (that) …
lade nogen være i fred — leave someone in peace
lade noget ligge — leave something (lying there); also "let a matter drop"

Kan du ikke lade mig være i fred et øjeblik?

Can't you leave me in peace for a moment?

A short dialogue

— Lad os bestille pizza i aften. — God idé! Men lad nu være med at bestille ananas på.

— Let's order pizza tonight. — Good idea! But don't go ordering pineapple on it.

Common mistakes

❌ Sig ikke noget / Gør ikke det!

Stiff and unidiomatic for a casual 'don't' — Danish reaches for 'lad være med at'.

✅ Lad være med at sige noget.

Don't say anything. (the natural negative imperative)

❌ Lad os at gå nu.

Wrong — no 'at' after 'lad os'.

✅ Lad os gå nu.

Let's go now.

❌ Lad mig at hjælpe dig.

Wrong — 'lade' takes a bare infinitive, not 'at'.

✅ Lad mig hjælpe dig.

Let me help you.

❌ Jeg har ladt døren åben hele dagen.

Wrong participle in this sense — use 'ladet' for the plain verb.

✅ Jeg har ladet døren stå åben hele dagen.

I've left the door open all day.

❌ Hun lader som hun var syg.

Wrong — the idiom needs 'om': 'lade som om'.

✅ Hun lader som om hun er syg.

She's pretending she's sick.

Key takeaways

Lade is strong: present lader, past lod, participle ladet — one form per tense, every subject.
After lade the next verb is a bare infinitive (no at): lad mig hjælpe, lad os gå.
Lad os = "let's"; lade være med at = the everyday "don't"; lade som om = "pretend." Drill these three frames.

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