Undgå means to avoid, evade, or escape. It is gå (to go, to walk) with the prefix und- (away from, out of reach of), and it conjugates exactly like its parent — the strong past undgik is gik with the prefix attached. The literal sense is to get away from something; the everyday sense is to keep something from happening.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| undgå | undgår | undgik | undgået | undgå |
The perfect is formed with have: jeg har undgået, vi havde undgået. Although the parent verb gå takes være in the perfect when it describes movement (jeg er gået — I have left), undgå is transitive — you avoid something — so it always takes have, never være. This split between parent and prefixed verb trips up many learners and is worth fixing in memory now.
The ablaut pattern and its English cognate
Undgå is strong: the past is formed by a vowel change, not a suffix. The infinitive å becomes i in the past — undgår → undgik — and the participle returns to å: undgået. This is the gå → gik → gået pattern verbatim.
The English cognate of gå is go. The vowel shift is not identical to go → went (English borrowed went from an unrelated verb), but the family resemblance to forms like gone → gået helps the participle stick. The key is simply to anchor undgik to gik and never reach for a weak -ede form.
Jeg prøver at undgå sukker om aftenen.
I try to avoid sugar in the evening.
Vi undgik heldigvis det værste vejr.
Luckily we avoided the worst of the weather.
Hun har undgået ham hele ugen.
She has been avoiding him all week.
Sentence patterns
Undgå takes either a direct object (a noun) or an infinitive clause.
With a direct object — undgå nogen/noget (avoid someone/something):
For at undgå køen tog vi af sted en time tidligere.
To avoid the queue, we set off an hour earlier.
With an infinitive, undgå at + verb means avoid doing. The at here is the infinitive marker and is required — Danish does not drop it the way English drops to after some verbs:
Undgå at spilde vand, når der er tørke.
Avoid wasting water during a drought.
The fixed phrase for at undgå (in order to avoid) is extremely common in instructions and signage:
Tag handsker på for at undgå at brænde dig.
Put on gloves to avoid burning yourself.
There is also the impersonal det er ikke til at undgå (it can't be helped / there's no avoiding it):
Lidt forsinkelse er ikke til at undgå i myldretiden.
A little delay can't be avoided during rush hour.
Undgå in the passive and the s-form
Undgå appears constantly in the s-passive, the form Danish uses for general rules and instructions. You build it by adding -s to the infinitive: undgås (is to be avoided / should be avoided). This is far more common than the blive-passive in written notices.
Direkte sollys bør undgås.
Direct sunlight should be avoided.
Misforståelser undgås lettest ved at spørge.
Misunderstandings are most easily avoided by asking.
English has no single-word passive like this, so learners tend to reach for the heavier should be avoided. In Danish, undgås alone carries that meaning, and on signs and in manuals it is the default. The same s appears on the participle in fixed adjectival uses, but for everyday purposes the pattern to lock in is bør/skal undgås (should/must be avoided).
Undgå vs. slippe for vs. flygte
Three Danish expressions hover near English avoid and escape, and they are not interchangeable.
- Undgå = avoid through your own action — you steer clear, you prevent it.
- Slippe for = be spared, get out of — something unpleasant that was coming your way doesn't reach you, often by luck or exemption rather than effort.
- Flygte = flee — physical escape from danger, often flygte fra (flee from).
The difference between undgå and slippe for is agency. You undgår a mistake by being careful; you slipper for the washing-up because someone else did it.
Hvis du går nu, undgår du trafikken og slipper for at vente.
If you leave now, you'll avoid the traffic and be spared the wait.
De flygtede fra krigen og prøvede bare at undgå at blive opdaget.
They fled the war and just tried to avoid being discovered.
Common mistakes
❌ Vi undgåede en ulykke.
Incorrect — undgå is strong, so the weak -ede past is wrong.
✅ Vi undgik en ulykke.
We avoided an accident.
The infinitive's final å lures learners into undgåede. The strong past is undgik, mirroring gik.
❌ Undgå spilde mad.
Incorrect — Danish keeps the infinitive marker at before the verb.
✅ Undgå at spilde mad.
Avoid wasting food.
English drops to after avoid (avoid wasting), but Danish keeps at before the infinitive. See infinitive constructions for the wider rule.
❌ Jeg er undgået problemet.
Incorrect — undgå is transitive and takes have, not være.
✅ Jeg har undgået problemet.
I have avoided the problem.
Even though the parent verb gå can take være, the transitive undgå always uses have in the perfect.
❌ Jeg vil gerne undgå af mødet.
Incorrect — undgå takes a plain object; for being spared something, use slippe for.
✅ Jeg vil gerne slippe for mødet.
I'd like to get out of the meeting.
Key takeaways
- undgå · undgår · undgik · undgået — the gå pattern (cognate of English go) with the prefix und-.
- Perfect with have: har undgået. Unlike its parent gå, never være.
- Keep at before a following infinitive: undgå at spilde.
- undgå = steer clear by your own action; slippe for = be spared; flygte = physically flee.
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.
- GåA1 — Full reference for gå ('to walk / to go') — principal parts, all core tenses in natural sentences, the core idioms hvordan går det? and det går, and why 'go on foot' takes være in the perfect while 'go by vehicle' is køre or tage.
- Infinitive ConstructionsB2 — Danish infinitive clauses beyond the bare marker — for at, uden at, ved at, i stedet for at, the accusative-with-infinitive after perception and causative verbs, and til at complements, with the rules of subject control.