Løbe is the everyday Danish verb for running on foot — jogging, sprinting, going for a run. It is strong, with a distinctive past where the -e simply drops and the vowel shortens: løbe → løb → løbet. The trap for English speakers is twofold: do not reach for køre (that is travelling by vehicle) and do not invent a weak løbede. Beyond literal running, løbe anchors a cluster of idioms about things running out, running into each other, and figures "adding up."
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) løbe | to run |
| Present | løber | run(s) |
| Past | løb | ran |
| Past participle | løbet | run |
| Imperative | løb! | run! |
Løbe is strong: the past løb is the bare stem with a shortened vowel (and stød), and the participle løbet keeps the strong -et. There is no -ede in this verb at all — see Strong verbs: ablaut patterns.
Present: løber
The default sense is moving fast on your own legs.
Jeg løber en tur hver morgen før arbejde.
I go for a run every morning before work.
Hun løber maraton til efteråret.
She's running a marathon in the autumn.
Skynd dig — vi løber, ellers når vi ikke toget!
Hurry up — let's run, or we won't make the train!
Past: løb
Børnene løb hen til isbilen.
The children ran over to the ice-cream van.
Han løb så hurtigt han kunne, men bussen kørte.
He ran as fast as he could, but the bus drove off.
Notice the natural pairing in that last sentence: the person løb (ran, on foot) while the bus kørte (drove, on wheels). Danish keeps these strictly apart.
Present perfect: har/er løbet
This is where motion verbs need care. Use have when you mean the activity ('I have run / I run regularly'); use være when you mean a completed change of place ('he has run off / away').
Jeg har løbet hver dag i denne uge.
I've run every day this week.
Han er løbet sin vej.
He has run off.
See Wrong perfect auxiliary for motion for the full rule, and Verbs of motion and direction for the broader pattern.
Key idioms with løbe
| Expression | Meaning |
|---|---|
| løbe tør for (noget) | run out of (something) |
| løbe ind i (nogen) | run into / bump into (someone) |
| løbe væk | run away |
| det løber rundt | it adds up / breaks even; (literally) it spins |
| det løber op i … | it comes to / amounts to … |
Vi løb tør for benzin midt ude på landet.
We ran out of petrol in the middle of the countryside.
Jeg løb ind i en gammel ven i supermarkedet.
I bumped into an old friend at the supermarket.
Regningen løb op i næsten tusind kroner.
The bill came to almost a thousand kroner.
Med to job løber økonomien lige akkurat rundt.
With two jobs the finances just about break even.
The phrase det løber rundt i hovedet på mig ('my head is spinning') uses the same "spin / go round" sense:
Der er så mange tal — det løber rundt i hovedet på mig.
There are so many numbers — my head is spinning.
Løbe vs køre vs rende
These three are the running/going trio, and choosing wrongly is an instant giveaway of a non-native speaker.
| Verb | Type | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| løbe (løb, løbet) | strong | running on foot; the neutral, standard word |
| køre (kørte, kørt) | weak | going by vehicle — car, bus, bike, train; driving |
| rende (rendte, rendt) | weak (informal) | running about, dashing around — colloquial, often slightly negative |
Jeg løber i skoven, men jeg kører på arbejde.
I run in the woods, but I go to work by car.
Han render rundt og laver ingenting.
He runs around doing nothing. (informal, faintly disapproving)
Use løbe as your default for running on foot. Reserve køre for anything on wheels. Rende is fine in casual speech but reads as too informal in writing.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg løbede en tur i morges.
Incorrect — løbe is strong; the past is løb, never løbede.
✅ Jeg løb en tur i morges.
I went for a run this morning.
❌ Hver morgen kører jeg fem kilometer i parken.
Incorrect — køre is for vehicles; running on foot is løbe.
✅ Hver morgen løber jeg fem kilometer i parken.
Every morning I run five kilometres in the park.
❌ Vi løb tør benzin.
Incorrect — the idiom needs the preposition for: løbe tør for.
✅ Vi løb tør for benzin.
We ran out of petrol.
❌ Jeg har løb tre gange i denne uge.
Incorrect — the perfect needs the participle løbet, not the past løb.
✅ Jeg har løbet tre gange i denne uge.
I've run three times this week.
Key takeaways
- Løbe is strong: løber / løb / løbet — never løbede.
- It is the neutral, standard word for running on foot; use køre for anything on wheels.
- The perfect splits har løbet (activity) vs er løbet (changed place / ran off).
- Memorise the idioms: løbe tør for (run out of), løbe ind i (bump into), løbe rundt / op i (add up / amount to).
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- KøreA2 — Full reference for køre — to drive, to go by vehicle, to run/function — including the har kørt vs. er kørt perfect split.
- SpringeB1 — Full reference for the strong verb springe ('jump / leap / burst') — i–a–u ablaut (springe / sprang / sprunget) — with its key phrasal verbs springe over, springe ud and springe i luften, and the springe-vs-hoppe distinction.
- Verbs of Motion and DirectionB1 — Danish lexicalises the means of motion — gå, køre, tage, rejse, flytte, løbe, flyve, komme — each with være-perfect for completed displacement and directional particles like ind, ud, op, ned, hjem.
- Strong Verbs: Ablaut PatternsA2 — Danish strong verbs form their past by changing the stem vowel — learn the major ablaut series as families to turn memorisation into pattern recognition.
- Wrong Perfect Auxiliary for MotionB1 — Why Danish uses er (not har) in the perfect for arrival, departure, and change of state — and why the same verb can take both.