Springe | Danish Grammar

Springe ('to jump, leap') is a textbook strong verb of the i–a–u class: springe → sprang → sprunget. Better still for English speakers, it is the direct cognate of 'spring' (spring / sprang / sprung) — and the Danish vowel ladder is the same ladder English still uses. If you can say "spring / sprang / sprung," you already know the Danish past and participle. Beyond literal jumping, springe covers leaping, bursting/cracking, and a handful of high-frequency phrasal verbs that learners must memorise as units.

Principal parts

Form	Danish	English
Infinitive	(at) springe	to jump / leap
Present	springer	jump(s)
Past	sprang	jumped
Past participle	sprunget	jumped
Imperative	spring!	jump!

Springe is strong with the classic i–a–u ladder: present i (springer), past a (sprang), participle u (sprunget) — the same pattern as finde / fandt / fundet, drikke / drak / drukket and synge / sang / sunget. See Strong verbs: ablaut patterns.

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Danish verbs never change for person or number. Springer is the whole present — jeg springer, du springer, hun springer, vi springer, de springer — and sprang is the whole past, for every subject.

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English keeps the very same ablaut in its cognate: spring → sprang → sprung. Danish springe → sprang → sprunget matches step for step. When you hesitate over the past, think "sprang" — it is identical in both languages.

Present: springer

The core sense is a jump or leap propelled off the legs.

Børnene springer ned fra trampolinen.

The children jump down off the trampoline.

Hunden springer altid op ad gæsterne.

The dog always jumps up on the guests.

It also covers a fast, bounding run — closer to "dash" than to steady jogging (which is løbe):

Jeg springer lige ned i kiosken efter mælk.

I'll just dash down to the shop for milk.

Past: sprang

Han sprang over hækken uden problemer.

He jumped over the hedge without any trouble.

Vandhanen sprang i går, så der var vand overalt.

The tap burst yesterday, so there was water everywhere.

Note the second sense: springe also means burst / crack / snap, used of pipes bursting, strings snapping, and glass cracking.

Present perfect: har sprunget

Springe takes the auxiliary have for the action itself — har sprunget.

Hun har sprunget i havnen hver sommer siden hun var ti.

She has jumped into the harbour every summer since she was ten.

Vandrøret er sprunget igen.

The water pipe has burst again.

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When springe describes a change of state or position (a pipe bursting, someone leaping out), it can take være in the perfect — røret er sprunget, han er sprunget ud. When it describes the activity of jumping in general, it takes have — hun har sprunget. This have/være split runs through all Danish motion verbs; see Verbs of motion and direction.

Key phrasal verbs

These are the everyday combinations. Learn each as a unit — the meaning is not always predictable from the parts.

Phrasal verb	Meaning
springe over	skip / leave out
springe ud	jump out; blossom; come out (as gay)
springe i luften	blow up / explode
springe for livet	run for one's life

Vi springer lige det kapitel over og går videre.

Let's just skip that chapter and move on.

Træerne er sprunget ud — endelig forår!

The trees have come into leaf — spring at last!

Han sprang ud som teenager og fortalte det til hele familien.

He came out as a teenager and told the whole family.

Bomben sprang i luften, før politiet nåede frem.

The bomb went off before the police arrived.

Springe vs hoppe

Both translate loosely as "jump," but they are not interchangeable. Springe is a single powerful leap that covers ground — over an obstacle, off a height, into water. Hoppe (a regular weak verb: hopper / hoppede / hoppet) is a lighter, often repeated hop or bounce, on the spot or in place.

Verb	Type	Feel
springe (sprang, sprunget)	strong	leap / bound / clear an obstacle
hoppe (hoppede, hoppet)	weak	hop / bounce / skip on the spot

Barnet hoppede op og ned af glæde.

The child jumped up and down with joy.

Atleten sprang over tre meter.

The athlete jumped over three metres.

You would springe over a fence but hoppe on a pogo stick. When in doubt, ask whether the jump goes somewhere (springe) or just bounces (hoppe).

Common mistakes

❌ Han springede over muren.

Incorrect — springe is strong; the past is sprang, never springede.

✅ Han sprang over muren.

He jumped over the wall.

❌ Jeg har springet i vandet mange gange.

Incorrect — the participle is sprunget, not springet.

✅ Jeg har sprunget i vandet mange gange.

I've jumped into the water many times.

❌ Vi springer på stedet for at holde varmen.

Incorrect — bouncing on the spot is hoppe, not springe.

✅ Vi hopper på stedet for at holde varmen.

We hop on the spot to stay warm.

❌ Lad os springe over det møde — jeg springede det også sidste gang.

Incorrect — wrong past form again; use sprang.

✅ Lad os springe det møde over — jeg sprang det også over sidste gang.

Let's skip that meeting — I skipped it last time too.

Key takeaways

Springe is strong, i–a–u: springer / sprang / sprunget — identical to English spring / sprang / sprung.
It means jump, leap, dash, and also burst/crack (a pipe, a string).
Learn the phrasal verbs as units: springe over (skip), springe ud (come out / blossom), springe i luften (explode).
Use hoppe for a light bounce on the spot; springe for a leap that clears ground.

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