Lave | Danish Grammar

Lave is the everyday verb for "to make" and, in casual speech, "to do." You cook with it (lave mad), you do your homework with it (lave lektier), and you ask what someone is up to with it (Hvad laver du? — "What are you doing?"). The one genuine difficulty for English speakers is that Danish splits "do/make" between two verbs: lave for concrete, hands-on making and doing, and gøre for abstract doing, effecting and performing. Getting that split right is what this page is really about.

Principal parts

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) lave	to make / do
Present	laver	make(s) / do(es)
Past	lavede	made / did
Past participle	lavet	made / done
Imperative	lav!	make! / do!

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Lave is a textbook weak verb of the -ede / -et type — the largest and most predictable Danish verb class. Past lavede, participle lavet. It is one of the safest verbs in the language: no vowel change, no auxiliary surprises. See the weak past with -ede for the wider pattern.

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No agreement: laver is the whole present for every subject — jeg laver, du laver, hun laver, vi laver, de laver — and lavede is the whole past. There is no -s for "she makes."

Present: laver

Subject	Form	Example
jeg	laver	jeg laver mad
du	laver	du laver lektier
han / hun	laver	hun laver kaffe
vi	laver	vi laver ingenting
de	laver	de laver larm

Jeg laver mad i aften — har du nogle ønsker?

I'm cooking tonight — do you have any requests?

Hvad laver du lige nu?

What are you doing right now?

The question Hvad laver du? is one of the most useful phrases in everyday Danish. It is the standard, neutral "What are you doing?" / "What are you up to?" — and also "What do you do (for a living)?" depending on context. Crucially, this is lave, not gøre.

Past: lavede

Vi lavede en kæmpe morgenmad i søndags.

We made a huge breakfast last Sunday.

Hvad lavede I i ferien?

What did you do on holiday?

Present perfect: har lavet

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

Jeg har lavet aftensmad, så bare sæt dig.

I've made dinner, so just sit down.

Har du lavet dine lektier?

Have you done your homework?

Past perfect: havde lavet

Hun havde lavet kaffe, før de andre stod op.

She had made coffee before the others got up.

The big point: lave vs. gøre

English makes one cut ("make" vs. "do") and even that is fuzzy. Danish makes a different cut, and it does not line up with the English one. The reliable rule:

lave = produce, build, prepare, fix, repair — and casually "do/be busy with" something concrete. You can usually point at the result.
gøre = do, perform, act, bring about — something abstract, an effect or an action with no physical product. Gøre also lives in countless fixed phrases (gøre rent, gøre noget godt).

Use lave (concrete)	Use gøre (abstract)
lave mad — cook	gøre rent — clean (the house)
lave kaffe — make coffee	gøre noget godt — do something good
lave en aftale — make an appointment	gøre sit bedste — do one's best
lave lektier — do homework	gøre ondt — hurt (cause pain)
Hvad laver du? — what are you doing?	Hvad gør jeg nu? — what do I do now? (what action do I take?)

Jeg laver kaffe, mens du gør rent.

I'll make coffee while you clean.

Det gør ondt, når jeg bøjer knæet.

It hurts when I bend my knee. (gøre, not lave)

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The contrast in one breath: Hvad laver du? asks what activity you are busy with right now ("what are you doing?"); Hvad gør du? asks what action you take or how you act ("what do you do about it?"). A learner who says *Hvad gør du? to a friend at a party sounds like they are asking for a decision, not making small talk. For the full picture, see gøre.

Lave om and other particle verbs

With a particle, lave makes common phrasal verbs.

Vi er nødt til at lave om på planen.

We have to change the plan.

Note lave om på ("to change / alter") — literally "make over on" something. And the wonderfully Danish lave ingenting ("to do nothing / laze about"), a phrase you will hear constantly on a lazy Sunday.

I weekenden lavede jeg simpelthen ingenting, og det var skønt.

At the weekend I literally did nothing, and it was lovely.

Common collocations and fixed expressions

lave mad — to cook
lave lektier — to do homework
lave om (på) — to change, alter
lave ingenting — to do nothing, laze around
lave en aftale — to make a plan / an appointment

Skal vi lave en aftale om at ses i næste uge?

Shall we make a plan to meet up next week?

A natural exchange

— Hvad laver du? — Ikke noget særligt, jeg laver bare lidt mad. Vil du komme forbi? — Ja! Men du skal love mig, at vi ikke laver om på planen igen.

— What are you up to? — Nothing special, just making a bit of food. Do you want to come over? — Yes! But you have to promise me we won't change the plan again.

Common mistakes

❌ Jeg gør mad i aften.

Wrong verb — cooking is concrete: lave mad, not gøre.

✅ Jeg laver mad i aften.

I'm cooking tonight.

❌ Hvad gør du i weekenden?

Sounds like 'what action will you take?' — for 'what are you up to?' use lave.

✅ Hvad laver du i weekenden?

What are you doing this weekend?

❌ Jeg lavde kaffe.

Incorrect spelling — the past is lavede, not lavde.

✅ Jeg lavede kaffe.

I made coffee.

❌ Vi laver rent hver lørdag.

Wrong verb — house-cleaning is the fixed phrase gøre rent.

✅ Vi gør rent hver lørdag.

We clean every Saturday.

❌ Lave dine lektier nu!

Wrong command form — the imperative drops the -e: lav.

✅ Lav dine lektier nu!

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