Ske ("to happen, to occur") is short, extremely common, and slightly irregular in two ways that English speakers need to watch. First, its past is skete — not the regular *skede you would predict from the stem. Second, and more importantly, ske almost never takes an ordinary subject in front of it: Danish overwhelmingly frames it with the expletive der ("there"), as in der sker noget ("something is happening"). Sentences like *noget sker are grammatically possible but sound stiff and foreign. This page gives you the paradigm and, above all, drills the der-construction that makes the verb idiomatic.
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) ske | to happen |
| Present | sker | happen(s) |
| Past | skete | happened |
| Past participle | sket | happened |
| Imperative | — | (no imperative) |
The der construction: der sker noget
This is the core of using ske well. Danish, like English with "there," fronts an empty placeholder der and puts the real, indefinite subject after the verb. So "something is happening" is der sker noget — literally "there happens something."
Der sker noget mærkeligt udenfor.
Something strange is happening outside.
Der skete en ulykke på motorvejen i morges.
There was an accident on the motorway this morning.
Der er sket en fejl — din ordre gik ikke igennem.
There's been an error — your order didn't go through.
Without der, the same sentences turn wooden. Compare the natural Der skete noget with the stiff Noget skete. When the subject is definite (the named, known thing), you can front it directly — Ulykken skete klokken otte — but with an indefinite subject (noget, en ulykke, en fejl), reach for der.
Ulykken skete lige her ved krydset.
The accident happened right here at the junction.
Present: sker
The present sker is the same for every subject — though in practice the subject is almost always an event or der.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| der | sker | der sker ikke noget her |
| det | sker | det sker af og til |
| en ulykke | sker | ulykker sker, når man har travlt |
| hvad | sker | hvad sker der? |
Hvad sker der? Hvorfor står alle og kigger?
What's happening? Why is everyone standing around looking?
Der sker aldrig noget spændende i den her by.
Nothing exciting ever happens in this town.
Past: skete
The irregular past skete ("happened") is one of the most useful question forms in the language: Hvad skete der?
Hvad skete der til festen i lørdags? Jeg hørte, det gik galt.
What happened at the party on Saturday? I heard it went wrong.
Det skete så hurtigt, at ingen nåede at reagere.
It happened so fast that no one had time to react.
Present perfect: er sket
The perfect uses er plus sket. The everyday question Hvad er der sket? ("What has happened?") is one you will use constantly — note that it keeps the der.
Hvad er der sket? Du ser helt bleg ud.
What's happened? You look completely pale.
Der er sket en misforståelse — vi havde aftalt klokken to, ikke tre.
There's been a misunderstanding — we'd agreed on two o'clock, not three.
Past perfect: var sket
Da politiet kom frem, var ulykken allerede sket.
By the time the police arrived, the accident had already happened.
Det sker: 'it happens' and reassurance
The fixed, comforting phrase det sker means "it happens" / "these things happen" — used to wave away a small mistake.
— Undskyld, jeg tabte din kop. — Pyt, det sker.
— Sorry, I dropped your cup. — Never mind, these things happen.
Common collocations and fixed expressions
- der sker noget — something is happening
- Hvad sker der? — What's happening? / What's up?
- Hvad er der sket? — What has happened?
- det sker — it happens, these things happen
- uanset hvad der sker — no matter what happens
- lad det ske — let it happen (one of the few set uses near an imperative)
Jeg lover at være der, uanset hvad der sker.
I promise I'll be there, no matter what happens.
A natural exchange
— Hvad er der sket? Der står en ambulance udenfor. — Der skete en ulykke på hjørnet for lidt siden. — Åh nej, er der nogen kommet til skade? — Det ved jeg ikke endnu. Det skete så hurtigt.
— What's happened? There's an ambulance outside. — There was an accident on the corner a little while ago. — Oh no, did anyone get hurt? — I don't know yet. It happened so fast.
Common mistakes
❌ Hvad skede der i går?
Wrong past — ske is irregular: the past is skete, not the regular skede.
✅ Hvad skete der i går?
What happened yesterday?
❌ Noget skete på vejen hjem.
Stiff and unidiomatic — an indefinite subject needs the expletive der: der skete noget.
✅ Der skete noget på vejen hjem.
Something happened on the way home.
❌ Hvad har der sket?
Wrong auxiliary — ske is a change-of-state verb and takes er, not har.
✅ Hvad er der sket?
What has happened?
❌ Der sker en fejl, så din betaling gik ikke igennem.
Tense mismatch — for a completed event use the perfect er sket, not the present sker.
✅ Der er sket en fejl, så din betaling gik ikke igennem.
An error occurred, so your payment didn't go through.
❌ Sker det!
No imperative — you can't command an event to happen; use a paraphrase like lad det ske.
✅ Lad det ske.
Let it happen.
The expletive der that powers this verb is explained in full under there is / there are; for another high-frequency change-of-state verb that takes er, see blive.
Now practice Danish
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