Læse means to read — but it also means to study a subject at university, a sense English speakers almost always miss. When a Dane says Hun læser jura, they do not mean she is reading a law book this minute; they mean she is studying law as her degree. This second meaning is the most important thing to learn about læse, because it is completely idiomatic and has no clean equivalent in English.
Principal parts
Læse is a regular weak verb of the -te class.
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (at) læse | læser | læste | læst | læs! |
The -te class drops the stem-final -e and adds -te for the past (læs + te = læste) and -t for the participle (læst). The imperative is læs!
Present: læser — to read
In its everyday sense, læser covers reading anything — a book, a sign, the news. With no progressive form, it also means "am reading."
Jeg læser en god bog lige nu.
I'm reading a good book right now.
Hvad læser du?
What are you reading?
Min søn læser allerede selv, og han er kun seks.
My son already reads by himself, and he's only six.
Present: læser — to study (a subject)
Here is the sense English lacks. To say what someone is studying at university, Danish uses læse plus the subject — no preposition.
Hun læser medicin på Københavns Universitet.
She's studying medicine at the University of Copenhagen.
Hvad læser du? — Jeg læser jura.
What are you studying? — I'm studying law.
Han læste statskundskab, men arbejder nu som journalist.
He studied political science but now works as a journalist.
You can say Jeg studerer jura, and it is grammatically fine, but to a Dane it sounds slightly stiff or bookish. Jeg læser jura is what people actually say. Treat this as a near-false-friend: the cognate studere exists but is not the default, the way it is in English.
How do you tell the two senses of læser apart in conversation? Almost always from what follows the verb. A bare academic subject with no article — jura, medicin, historie, dansk — signals the "study" reading, because you never read "a law" the way you read "a book." A concrete object with an article or a title — en bog, avisen, brevet — signals plain reading. Context does the rest:
Hun læser dansk på universitetet.
She's studying Danish at university.
Hun læser en dansk roman lige nu.
She's reading a Danish novel right now.
The same verb, the same speaker — only the object tells you whether læser means "studies" or "is reading." Danish students even describe the place they study with this verb: Hvor læser du henne? commonly means not "where do you read?" but "where do you go to university?"
Hvor læser du henne? — På RUC, ude i Roskilde.
Where do you study? — At RUC, out in Roskilde.
Past: læste
Jeg læste hele bogen på én weekend.
I read the whole book in a single weekend.
Vi læste det samme digt i gymnasiet.
We read the same poem in upper secondary school.
Present perfect: har læst
The perfect uses har plus læst. Læse is an activity verb and always takes har.
Har du læst dagens avis?
Have you read today's paper?
Jeg har læst engelsk i tre år.
I've studied English for three years.
Collocations
| Danish | English |
|---|---|
| læse op | to read aloud (e.g. to children) |
| læse højt | to read out loud |
| læse til eksamen | to study/revise for an exam |
| læse korrektur | to proofread |
| læse op til | to revise/cram for (a test) |
Far læser højt for børnene hver aften.
Dad reads aloud to the children every evening.
Jeg kan ikke i aften — jeg skal læse til eksamen.
I can't tonight — I have to revise for an exam.
Kan du lige læse korrektur på min ansøgning?
Could you proofread my application for me?
A short dialogue
— Hvad laver du nu om dage? — Jeg læser medicin på fjerde år. — Hold da op, er det ikke hårdt? — Jo, jeg læser stort set hele tiden. Jeg har lige læst til en stor eksamen.
— What are you up to these days? — I'm studying medicine, in my fourth year. — Wow, isn't that tough? — Yes, I'm pretty much studying all the time. I've just been revising for a big exam.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg studerer jura. (as your default phrasing)
Not wrong, but stilted — Danes say it differently in everyday speech.
✅ Jeg læser jura.
Correct and idiomatic: læse + subject is how Danes say 'I study law.'
❌ Hun læser på medicin.
Wrong: no preposition between læse and the subject studied.
✅ Hun læser medicin.
Correct: the subject follows læse directly.
❌ Jeg lærte hele bogen i går.
Wrong verb: lære means 'to learn/teach,' not 'to read.'
✅ Jeg læste hele bogen i går.
Correct: the past of læse is læste.
❌ Far læsede højt for børnene.
Wrong: læse is a -te verb, not a -ede verb.
✅ Far læste højt for børnene.
Correct: læs + te = læste.
❌ Har du læset avisen?
Wrong participle: -te verbs take -t, not -et.
✅ Har du læst avisen?
Correct: the participle is læst.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
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