Spørge | Danish Grammar

Spørge ("to ask a question") is one of the most useful verbs in conversational Danish — and one of the trickiest to spell, because its past is the irregular spurgte, not the regular *spørgede. It anchors two everyday phrasal patterns: spørge om ("ask about / ask whether") and spørge efter ("ask for, ask after"). The central confusion for English speakers is that English "ask" covers both spørge (put a question) and bede om (request a thing). In Danish these are two different verbs, and mixing them up is the single most common error.

Principal parts

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) spørge	to ask
Present	spørger	ask(s)
Past	spurgte	asked
Past participle	spurgt	asked
Imperative	spørg!	ask!

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Spørge is a mixed verb: the past spurgte and participle spurgt swap the ø of the infinitive for a u, then add the regular -te / -t. The vowel change is the irregular bit; the ending is regular. And, as always, no agreement — spørger is the whole present (jeg spørger, du spørger, hun spørger, vi spørger, de spørger) and spurgte the whole past, for every subject.

Present: spørger

Subject	Form	Example
jeg	spørger	jeg spørger lige chefen
du	spørger	du spørger for meget
han / hun	spørger	hun spørger om vej
vi	spørger	vi spørger bare pænt
de	spørger	de spørger aldrig om hjælp

Hvis du er i tvivl, så spørger du bare mig.

If you're in doubt, just ask me.

Hun spørger altid, hvordan det går med min mor.

She always asks how my mother is doing.

The past: spurgte (irregular)

This is the form to drill. The vowel jumps from ø to u, so the past is spurgte — pronounced with the u — and a learner-made *spørgede is always wrong.

Jeg spurgte, om du havde lyst til at komme med.

I asked whether you felt like coming along.

Politiet spurgte os, hvor vi havde været hele aftenen.

The police asked us where we'd been all evening.

Present perfect: har spurgt

The perfect takes the default auxiliary har plus the participle spurgt (note: no e — not *spurget).

Har du spurgt, om der er flere pladser tilbage?

Have you asked whether there are any seats left?

Jeg har allerede spurgt to gange, og ingen svarer.

I've already asked twice, and no one answers.

Spørge om: ask about / ask whether

Spørge om has two jobs. With a noun it means "ask about" something (spørge om vej, "ask the way"). With a clause it introduces an indirect yes/no question — om here is "whether/if": jeg spurgte, om.... This om is the indirect-question conjunction, and the clause that follows it takes subordinate word order (the sentence adverb comes before the verb).

Turisten spurgte om vej til Nyhavn.

The tourist asked the way to Nyhavn.

Han spurgte, om jeg ikke ville hjælpe ham med flytningen.

He asked whether I wouldn't help him with the move.

Spørge efter: ask for / ask after

Spørge efter means "ask for" or "ask after" — you ask efter a person (enquire about them) or efter directions or a particular item. Crucially, spørge efter is about seeking information or someone's whereabouts, not about requesting an object to be handed to you (that is bede om, below).

En kunde spurgte efter dig i butikken i dag.

A customer asked for you in the shop today.

Vi måtte spørge efter vej tre gange, før vi fandt huset.

We had to ask for directions three times before we found the house.

The noun: et spørgsmål

From spørge comes the everyday noun et spørgsmål ("a question") — plural spørgsmål (no change). Watch the spelling: spørgs-mål, with the g and the s both kept.

Må jeg stille dig et personligt spørgsmål?

May I ask you a personal question?

Imperative: spørg!

Spørg din lærer, hvis du ikke forstår opgaven.

Ask your teacher if you don't understand the exercise.

Common collocations and fixed expressions

spørge om (vej / råd) — to ask for (directions / advice)
spørge om, ... — to ask whether ... (indirect question)
spørge efter (nogen / noget) — to ask for / ask after
spørge sig selv — to ask oneself, wonder
stille et spørgsmål — to pose a question
uden at spørge — without asking (permission)

Han tog min cykel uden at spørge.

He took my bike without asking.

A natural exchange

— Spurgte du, om vi må tage hunden med? — Ja, jeg spurgte personalet, og de sagde ja. — Godt. Så slipper vi for at spørge igen ved indgangen.

— Did you ask whether we can bring the dog? — Yes, I asked the staff, and they said yes. — Good. Then we won't have to ask again at the entrance.

Both the present spørger, the past spurgte and the participle in the question form sit here in one short scene — and every one of them is the "put a question" sense, never "request an object."

Common mistakes

❌ Jeg spørger om en kop kaffe.

Wrong verb — to request an item you bede om it; spørge om means 'ask about'.

✅ Jeg beder om en kop kaffe.

I'm asking for a cup of coffee. (requesting it)

❌ Hun spørgede mig om vej.

Incorrect past — spørge is mixed; the form is spurgte, never spørgede.

✅ Hun spurgte mig om vej.

She asked me the way.

❌ Har du spurget chefen endnu?

Wrong participle — it is spurgt (no e), not spurget.

✅ Har du spurgt chefen endnu?

Have you asked the boss yet?

❌ Han spurgte for hjælp.

Wrong particle — 'ask for' in the seeking sense is spørge efter (or, to request help, bede om).

✅ Han spurgte efter hjælp.

He asked for help. (enquired)

❌ Jeg vil spørge dig et spørgsmål.

Awkward — the natural collocation is stille et spørgsmål; spørge takes om + clause.

✅ Jeg vil gerne stille dig et spørgsmål.

I'd like to ask you a question.

For requesting things rather than information, see Bede; for how questions are built in Danish, see Questions overview.

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