Lukke ("to close, to shut") is a regular -ede verb and the natural antonym of åbne. On its own it is straightforward — jeg lukker døren ("I close the door"). But the moment you add a particle, lukke becomes one of the most genuinely confusing little verbs in Danish for an English speaker, because lukke op means "open up" — the exact opposite of what "shut" suggests. This page lays out the particle pairs carefully, because getting lukke op vs lukke i wrong will lock you out of (or into) a lot of conversations.
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) lukke | to close / shut |
| Present | lukker | close(s) |
| Past | lukkede | closed |
| Past participle | lukket | closed |
| Imperative | luk! | close! |
Present: lukker
The present lukker is identical for every subject.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | lukker | jeg lukker døren |
| du | lukker | du lukker vinduet |
| han / hun | lukker | hun lukker butikken |
| vi | lukker | vi lukker klokken fem |
| de | lukker | de lukker for natten |
Luk lige døren, der trækker.
Close the door, would you — there's a draught.
Bageren lukker klokken to om lørdagen.
The baker's closes at two on Saturdays.
Past: lukkede
The past is the regular lukkede — stem plus -ede.
Hun lukkede øjnene og trak vejret dybt.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
De lukkede biblioteket tidligt på grund af stormen.
They closed the library early because of the storm.
Present perfect: har lukket
The perfect takes har plus the participle lukket.
Har du lukket for gassen?
Have you turned off the gas?
Restauranten har desværre lukket for altid.
The restaurant has unfortunately closed for good.
Past perfect: havde lukket
Jeg kom for sent — de havde allerede lukket.
I was too late — they'd already closed.
The big point: the particle pair that flips the meaning
This is the lesson. Lukke changes meaning depending on its particle, and one of those meanings is the opposite of "shut." Learn this table cold:
| Phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| lukke op | to open (up) | the counter-intuitive one! |
| lukke i | to close, shut | matches "shut" |
| lukke for | to turn off (tap, gas, radio) | shut off the flow |
| lukke ned | to shut down (a system, a country) | like English "shut down" |
The shock for English speakers is lukke op. We hear "shut" + "up" and expect "close up," but the Danish phrase means open the door / open up. The logic, if it helps, is that op signals a release or unfastening — you "let it up" — but honestly, you simply have to memorise it.
Der ringer nogen — kan du lukke op?
Someone's ringing — can you get the door? (open it)
Luk lige op, jeg har glemt min nøgle.
Open up, I've forgotten my key.
Its partner lukke i is the intuitive one — it really does mean shut:
Luk skuffen i, ellers støder du ind i den.
Shut the drawer, or you'll walk into it.
Computeren lukkede helt i midt i mødet.
The computer shut down completely in the middle of the meeting.
Lukke for: turning off the flow
Lukke for means to shut off something that flows — water, gas, the radio. Its mirror is åbne for ("turn on").
Husk at lukke for vandet, når du børster tænder.
Remember to turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
Imperative: luk!
The imperative is luk, often softened by the little word lige ("just"): luk lige døren.
Luk munden og hør efter.
Close your mouth and listen.
Common collocations and fixed expressions
- lukke op — to open (up) — paradoxically!
- lukke i — to close, shut
- lukke for — to turn off (tap, gas, radio)
- lukke ned — to shut down (a system, a business)
- lukke øjnene — to close one's eyes
Mange butikker måtte lukke ned under krisen.
Many shops had to shut down during the crisis.
A natural exchange
— Der banker nogen. Kan du lukke op? — Ja. … Det var posten. — Godt. Luk lige døren i igen, der trækker. — Og husk at lukke for radiatoren, vi går snart.
— Someone's knocking. Can you open the door? — Sure. … It was the post. — Good. Shut the door again, there's a draught. — And remember to turn off the radiator, we're leaving soon.
Common mistakes
❌ Luk op døren, så vi kan komme ind.
Wrong meaning if you intend 'shut' — but note: lukke op means OPEN. If you do want to open it, this is right; just know it isn't 'close up'.
✅ Luk op, så vi kan komme ind.
Open up so we can come in. (lukke op = open)
❌ Jeg lukkde vinduet.
Wrong past — the regular form is lukkede, with the full -ede ending.
✅ Jeg lukkede vinduet.
I closed the window.
❌ Luk radioen.
Missing the particle — to turn off a device you need lukke for.
✅ Luk for radioen.
Turn off the radio.
❌ Har du luk døren?
Missing the participle ending — the perfect needs lukket.
✅ Har du lukket døren?
Have you closed the door?
❌ Lukke døren, tak.
Wrong form for a command — the imperative drops the -e: luk.
✅ Luk døren, tak.
Close the door, please.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- ÅbneA1 — Full reference for åbne ('to open') — principal parts, the regular -ede pattern across all core tenses, its starring role in the passive (døren åbnes / døren bliver åbnet), and the -s vs blive passive choice.
- Lukke opA2 — How to use the phrasal verb lukke op ('to open / open up') and why lukke alone means the opposite — close.
- Phrasal Verbs and ParticlesB1 — Danish verb + particle combinations, the stress rule that distinguishes a separable phrasal verb from a verb + preposition, and the most common particles and their meanings.
- Weak Past: The -ede ClassA1 — The largest, productive class of Danish regular verbs — past in -ede, participle in -et — and the safe default for any verb you don't recognise.
- The Present PerfectA2 — How Danish builds the present perfect with have (or være) plus the past participle — and the one rule English speakers need: definite past time takes the simple past, not the perfect.
- Danish Verbs: An OverviewA1 — A big-picture map of the Danish verb system — no person agreement, one present and one past form per verb, compound perfects, the passive, and modals.