Skyde ("to shoot") is a strong verb on the y–ø ladder — skyde → skød → skudt — the same class as nyde / nød / nydt and byde / bød / budt. It is the direct Germanic cognate of English "shoot" (English shoot/shot/shot, Danish skyde/skød/skudt share an ancestor), so the irregularity should feel familiar rather than foreign. Beyond firing a weapon, skyde also carries a strong sense of pushing or shoving with force, and it powers several everyday idioms English speakers must learn whole.
Principal parts
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) skyde | to shoot |
| Present | skyder | shoot(s) |
| Past | skød | shot |
| Past participle | skudt | shot |
| Imperative | skyd! | shoot! |
Present: skyder
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | skyder | jeg skyder genvej over marken |
| du | skyder | du skyder altid skylden på andre |
| han / hun | skyder | hun skyder bolden i mål |
| vi | skyder | vi skyder skabet ind mod væggen |
| de | skyder | priserne skyder i vejret |
Han skyder næsten altid forbi målet.
He almost always shoots wide of the goal.
Skyder vi genvej over parken, er vi der på ti minutter.
If we take a shortcut through the park, we're there in ten minutes.
Past: skød
Jægeren skød en hare i udkanten af skoven.
The hunter shot a hare at the edge of the forest.
Hun skød bolden i mål fra kanten af feltet.
She shot the ball into the goal from the edge of the box.
Present perfect: har skudt
The perfect is har skudt — skyde is transitive and agentive, so it takes har, never være.
Politiet har aldrig affyret et skud her, og slet ikke skudt nogen.
The police have never fired a shot here, let alone shot anyone.
Huslejen har skudt i vejret det sidste år.
The rent has shot up over the past year.
Imperative: skyd!
Skyd nu — du har frit mål!
Shoot now — you've got an open goal!
The push/shove sense and key idioms
Skyde doubles as a forceful "push / shove," and from both senses it builds idioms that do not translate literally:
- skyde skylden på (nogen) — to put the blame on someone, pin it on them
- skyde genvej — to take a shortcut (literally "shoot a shortcut")
- skyde op — to shoot up, sprout, spring up (plants, buildings, prices)
- skyde noget i vejret — to send/shoot something up (prices, growth)
- et skud (noun) — a shot
Du skyder altid skylden på din lillebror.
You always put the blame on your little brother.
Der er skudt nye boligblokke op i hele bydelen.
New apartment blocks have sprung up all over the district.
Om foråret skyder de første blomster op i haven.
In spring the first flowers come up in the garden.
Det var et flot skud, men keeperen reddede den.
It was a great shot, but the keeper saved it.
skyde vs skubbe vs trække
The "push/shove" sense of skyde sits next to two neighbours, and the difference is one of force and direction:
- skyde = to push/shove with momentum, often sliding something along — skyde skuffen i, skyde skabet ind mod væggen.
- skubbe (regular: skubber / skubbede / skubbet) = to push, gently or otherwise, the neutral everyday "push" — skubbe til døren, skubbe barnevognen.
- trække = to pull, the opposite direction — trække i håndtaget. See Trække.
In practice skubbe is the default "push"; skyde adds a sense of shoving something into place or sliding it, and is the one frozen into the idioms above.
Hjælp mig lige med at skyde sofaen hen til væggen.
Help me shove the sofa over against the wall.
Skub døren op og træk gardinet til side.
Push the door open and pull the curtain aside.
Common mistakes
❌ Jægeren skydede en hare.
Incorrect — skyde is strong; the past is skød, not the regular -ede form.
✅ Jægeren skød en hare.
The hunter shot a hare.
❌ Han har skødt forbi målet.
Wrong participle — it's skudt (with u), not skødt: har skudt forbi.
✅ Han har skudt forbi målet.
He's shot wide of the goal.
❌ Du giver altid skylden på din bror.
Wrong verb — the fixed idiom is skyde skylden på: Du skyder altid skylden på din bror.
✅ Du skyder altid skylden på din bror.
You always put the blame on your brother.
❌ Lad os tage en genvej over marken.
Not wrong, but the idiomatic Danish is skyde genvej: Lad os skyde genvej over marken.
✅ Lad os skyde genvej over marken.
Let's take a shortcut across the field.
❌ Skyd lige barnevognen — den holder for tæt på kanten.
Wrong push-verb for a gentle nudge — use skubbe: Skub lige barnevognen.
✅ Skub lige barnevognen — den holder for tæt på kanten.
Just push the pram — it's standing too close to the edge.
Key takeaways
- Skyde / skød / skudt — strong, y–ø, the cognate of English shoot/shot/shot.
- Perfect is always har skudt; mind the vowels (skød but skudt, never skødt).
- Idioms to learn whole: skyde skylden på (blame), skyde genvej (take a shortcut), skyde op (sprout / spring up).
- For everyday "push," reach for skubbe; skyde is the forceful shove and the idiom-builder; trække is "pull."
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- 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.
- TrækkeB2 — Full reference for the strong verb trække ('to pull / draw'), its a–u vowel pattern, and the idioms trække vejret, trække sig and trække på skuldrene.
- NydeB2 — Full reference for nyde ('to enjoy / savour') — a strong y–ø verb (nyder / nød / nydt) — with principal parts, all core tenses, the auxiliary har in the perfect, the collocation nyde godt af, and the crucial contrast between nyde (actively savour) and kunne lide (like in general).
- 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.