English "change" is a single word that covers a whole family of meanings, and Danish carves that family up across several verbs. Skifte is the one for swapping one thing for another — changing clothes, changing trains, changing jobs, changing your mind. Getting skifte right means also knowing where it stops and ændre, forandre and bytte begin.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (at) skifte | skifter | skiftede | skiftet | skift! |
A regular weak verb of the -ede class: past skiftede, participle skiftet. The stem skift- never changes. The imperative drops the -e of the infinitive: Skift tøj! ("Change your clothes!").
Present tense
Jeg skifter tog i Odense.
I change trains in Odense.
Hun skifter mening hele tiden.
She changes her mind all the time.
Vi skifter til vinterdæk i næste uge.
We're switching to winter tyres next week.
The third sentence shows the very common skifte til ("switch to / change over to") for moving from one option to another.
Past tense
Han skiftede job sidste år og er meget gladere nu.
He changed jobs last year and is much happier now.
Vi skiftede mening, da vi så prisen.
We changed our minds when we saw the price.
Present perfect
The perfect uses har (auxiliary have) plus skiftet. Use være only in the rare intransitive "has changed/turned into" reading; for the everyday transitive senses it is always har.
Jeg har lige skiftet til en billigere mobilplan.
I've just switched to a cheaper phone plan.
Har du skiftet adgangskode for nylig?
Have you changed your password recently?
The passive is common with the -s ending in instructions: Olien skiftes hver 15.000 km ("The oil is changed every 15,000 km") (neutral/technical).
Core collocations
These are the combinations a Danish speaker produces automatically:
- skifte tøj — change (one's) clothes
- skifte tog / bus — change trains / buses
- skifte job / arbejde — change jobs
- skifte mening — change one's mind
- skifte til — switch to (a different option)
- skiftes til at + infinitive — take turns doing something
Vi skiftes til at lave mad om aftenen.
We take turns cooking dinner in the evenings.
That reflexive-passive form skiftes til at is worth memorising as a unit — it is the standard way to say "take turns," and there is no obvious word-for-word route to it from English.
Skifte vs udskifte
The prefixed verb udskifte means "replace" — physically taking something out and putting a new one in. Skifte can often do the same job in casual speech, but udskifte is the precise word for swapping out a part or a member.
Mekanikeren udskiftede bremserne.
The mechanic replaced the brakes.
Skifte vs ændre vs forandre vs bytte
This is the heart of the matter for English speakers, because all four can surface as "change" in translation:
| Verb | Core meaning | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| skifte | swap one whole thing for another | skifte tøj, skifte tog, skifte job |
| ændre | alter / modify (adjust the thing itself) | ændre planen, ændre teksten |
| forandre (sig) | transform; change in nature over time | byen har forandret sig |
| bytte | exchange / trade (with someone) | bytte tøj i butikken, bytte plads |
Jeg vil gerne ændre min bestilling, ikke skifte den helt.
I'd like to change (modify) my order, not swap it entirely.
Byen har forandret sig meget, siden jeg var barn.
The town has changed a lot since I was a child.
Kan jeg bytte den her trøje til en større størrelse?
Can I exchange this jumper for a bigger size?
For the modify sense see ændre; for the exchange/trade sense see bytte. The pattern skiftes til at connects to the wider uses of the infinitive.
A dialogue in context
— Tager du den blå skjorte på? — Nej, jeg skifter lige til noget mere afslappet, og så skiftes vi til at køre i aften.
— Are you putting on the blue shirt? — No, I'll just change into something more relaxed, and then we'll take turns driving tonight.
Common mistakes
❌ Jeg vil gerne ændre tøj, før vi går.
Incorrect — ændre means 'modify'; you don't modify your clothes, you swap them.
✅ Jeg vil gerne skifte tøj, før vi går.
Correct — skifte tøj, 'change clothes'.
❌ Han skiftede sig til en ren skjorte.
Incorrect — skifte is not reflexive here; you don't change yourself.
✅ Han skiftede til en ren skjorte.
Correct — skifte til + the new thing, no sig.
❌ Vi har skifted busser tre gange.
Incorrect — wrong participle and English-style plural; it's skiftet, and bus stays singular as an activity.
✅ Vi har skiftet bus tre gange.
Correct — participle skiftet; skifte bus as a set phrase.
❌ Kan jeg skifte den her trøje til en større størrelse?
Slightly off — for an in-shop exchange with the staff, Danish prefers bytte.
✅ Kan jeg bytte den her trøje til en større størrelse?
Correct — bytte for exchanging goods at a shop.
Key takeaways
- Regular weak verb: skifter / skiftede / skiftet, perfect with har.
- One present form for every subject — no agreement.
- Skifte = swap one whole thing for another; learn skifte tøj / tog / job / mening and skifte til.
- skiftes til at = take turns; udskifte = replace.
- Don't reach for skifte when you mean modify (ændre), transform (forandre sig) or exchange/trade (bytte).
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- ÆndreB2 — How to use the weak verb ændre — to change or alter something — versus the reflexive ændre sig 'to change' (intransitive), and how it differs from skifte and forandre.
- BytteA2 — Full reference for the Danish verb bytte — to swap, exchange, trade — covering its forms, bytte om på, and how it differs from skifte and veksle.
- Uses of the InfinitiveB1 — Where the bare infinitive and the at-infinitive appear in Danish — after modals, after other verbs and prepositions, as subject or object, in for at / uden at / ved at, and as instructions on signs.