Standse means to stop, to halt, to come to a stop. It is a slightly more neutral, slightly more formal verb than its everyday cousin stoppe, and it is the word you reach for when a vehicle, a person, or a process ceases to move. Crucially, it works in two directions: you can standse something (transitive — bring it to a halt) or something can standse on its own (intransitive — come to a halt). What it cannot do is mean "stop doing an activity" — for that, Danish insists on holde op med. Getting these three verbs sorted is one of the classic B1 milestones, and standse sits right in the middle of them.
Principal parts
Standse is a regular weak verb of the large -ede class, so the past and participle are completely predictable.
| Form | Danish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | (at) standse | to stop / halt |
| Present | standser | stop(s) / halt(s) |
| Past | standsede | stopped / halted |
| Past participle | standset | stopped / halted |
| Imperative | stands! | stop! / halt! |
Present: standser
The present form is identical for every subject.
| Subject | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | standser | jeg standser bilen |
| bussen | standser | bussen standser her |
| vi | standser | vi standser ved næste lyskryds |
| de | standser | de standser trafikken |
Toget standser ikke på den her station.
The train doesn't stop at this station.
Min puls standser næsten, hver gang han ringer.
My pulse almost stops every time he calls.
Transitive vs intransitive
This is the heart of the verb. Transitive standse takes a direct object: you halt something.
Politiet standsede bilen ved grænsen.
The police stopped the car at the border.
Vi må standse blødningen med det samme.
We have to stop the bleeding immediately.
Intransitive standse has no object: the subject comes to a halt by itself.
Bussen standsede midt på vejen.
The bus came to a stop in the middle of the road.
Pludselig standsede uret.
Suddenly the clock stopped.
Notice that the same form — standsede — serves both. Danish does not need a separate "make stop" causative verb the way some languages do; standse simply takes an object when you want the transitive sense and drops it when you want the intransitive one.
Present perfect: er standset / har standset
The auxiliary tracks the transitive/intransitive split. When the subject stops by itself (intransitive, a change of state), use være:
Bussen er standset, så du kan godt stå af nu.
The bus has stopped, so you can get off now.
Uret er standset — det skal have et nyt batteri.
The clock has stopped — it needs a new battery.
When someone halts something (transitive, with an object), use har:
De har standset al trafik på broen på grund af stormen.
They've halted all traffic on the bridge because of the storm.
Politiet har standset flere biler i aften.
The police have stopped several cars tonight.
Standse vs stoppe vs holde op med
These three overlap, and choosing between them trips up nearly every learner. Here is the working distinction; the dedicated page choosing/standse-stoppe-holde-op goes deeper.
- standse — neutral/slightly formal "halt, come to a stop." Vehicles, machines, motion, processes. Bussen standser.
- stoppe — the everyday colloquial "stop," and also "stuff / plug" (a hole, a sausage). More frequent in casual speech. Bussen stopper. See verb-reference/stoppe.
- holde op med — "stop doing an activity," always followed by med at
- verb. Hold op med at råbe! See verb-reference/holde-op.
Kan du holde op med at fløjte? Det driver mig til vanvid.
Can you stop whistling? It's driving me crazy.
Bussen standsede, og alle stod af.
The bus stopped and everyone got off.
In conversation
— Hvorfor standsede bilen? — Den løb tør for benzin. Jeg prøvede at standse den blødt, men den bare døde.
— Why did the car stop? — It ran out of petrol. I tried to bring it to a gentle stop, but it just died on me.
Common Mistakes
1. Using standse for "stop doing." This is the big one. Standse at gøre noget is not Danish; you need holde op med at.
❌ Du må standse at ryge.
Incorrect — standse can't take 'at + verb' for an activity.
✅ Du må holde op med at ryge.
You have to stop smoking.
2. Forcing standse into casual speech where stoppe is more natural. Both are correct, but a Dane chatting with friends usually says stopper.
❌ Hey, stands lige et øjeblik! (sounds clipped, almost military)
Stiff — fine on a sign, brusque between friends.
✅ Hey, stop lige et øjeblik!
Hey, stop for a sec!
3. Inventing a separate causative. Learners sometimes look for a special "make stop" verb. Standse already does both jobs — just add or omit the object.
❌ Politiet fik bilen til at standse-standse. (over-marked)
Incorrect — no doubling; transitive standse alone suffices.
✅ Politiet standsede bilen.
The police stopped the car.
4. Picking the wrong perfect auxiliary. The intransitive "comes to a halt by itself" takes være; the transitive "halt something" takes har. Don't carry har over to the intransitive sense.
❌ Bussen har standset.
Incorrect — an intransitive change of state takes være: bussen er standset.
✅ Bussen er standset.
The bus has stopped.
✅ Politiet har standset bilen.
The police have stopped the car. (transitive — har)
5. Keeping the -e in the imperative. The command form is the bare stem.
❌ Standse! (as a shouted command)
Incorrect — the imperative drops the -e.
✅ Stands!
Stop! / Halt!
Key takeaways
- standse / standser / standsede / standset, imperative stands!
- Perfect auxiliary follows transitivity: intransitive bussen *er standset, transitive politiet **har standset bilen*.
- Transitive and intransitive from the same form — add an object to halt something, drop it to come to a halt.
- For "stop doing" use holde op med at, never standse.
- In casual speech stoppe is often the more natural choice.
Now practice Danish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- Standse, Stoppe, Holde Op: StoppingB1 — A decision guide for the three Danish verbs meaning 'stop' — standse (halt, of motion), stoppe (stop/plug), and holde op med (stop doing an activity).
- StoppeA2 — How to use the Danish verb stoppe (to stop), both transitively and intransitively, and the construction stoppe med at.
- Holde opB2 — Full reference for the phrasal verb holde op (med) ('to stop, cease') — principal parts of holde, the obligatory med at before an infinitive, and how it differs from stoppe, standse and ophøre.
- Weak Past: The -ede ClassA1 — The largest, productive class of Danish regular verbs — past in -ede, participle in -et — and the safe default for any verb you don't recognise.