Vælge means to choose, select, pick, and — in the political sense — to elect. It is a mixed verb: it changes its stem vowel like a strong verb (æ → a) but then takes the weak dental ending -te/-t like a regular verb. The result, vælge → valgte → valgt, has to be learned as its own shape, because it follows neither the pure strong pattern nor the pure weak one.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Past participle | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vælge | vælger | valgte | valgt | vælg |
The perfect uses have: jeg har valgt, vi havde valgt. Vælge is transitive — you choose something — so være never appears in its perfect. The imperative drops the infinitive -e: vælg!
Why it is "mixed": the g→ vowel shift
A purely strong verb changes its vowel and adds no dental suffix (synge → sang). A purely weak verb keeps its vowel and adds -ede or -te (lave → lavede). Vælge does both at once: the stem vowel shifts æ → a, and a -te/-t ending is added. That combination is the definition of a mixed verb.
There is a second wrinkle worth seeing clearly: the g of vælge is soft (close to a y-glide) in the present, but in valgte/valgt it joins the l to form a hard cluster — valgt rhymes with the start of English vault. The spelling keeps the g, but the sound shifts. This g→ behaviour is exactly why learners mishear and then misspell the past.
There is no clean everyday English cognate to lean on — choose and vælge come from different roots — but the German relative wählen (to choose) is close, and the most reliable mnemonic is internal to Danish: the noun et valg (a choice, an election) already carries the a. If you know valg, you know the vowel of valgte and valgt.
Jeg vælger altid vinduespladsen.
I always choose the window seat.
Vi valgte den billigste løsning.
We chose the cheapest option.
Hun har valgt at studere medicin.
She has chosen to study medicine.
Sentence patterns
Choose between options with vælge mellem:
Du må vælge mellem kage og is.
You have to choose between cake and ice cream.
Choose to do something with vælge at + infinitive:
De valgte at blive hjemme i regnvejret.
They chose to stay home in the rain.
Elect someone as something with vælge nogen til:
Han blev valgt til formand på generalforsamlingen.
He was elected chairman at the general meeting.
The verb anchors a whole family of related words: et valg (a choice / an election), vælgere (voters), et valgsted (a polling station), and udvælge (to single out, select):
Vælgerne skal stemme ved det næste valg.
Voters will cast their ballots at the next election.
The vælge family of compounds
Few Danish verbs spawn as many useful compounds as vælge, and they all share its mixed conjugation — change the vowel, add -te/-t. Learning the parent gives you the whole set:
- udvælge (udvalgte, udvalgt) — select, pick out from many.
- fravælge (fravalgte, fravalgt) — opt out of, choose against something.
- tilvælge (tilvalgte, tilvalgt) — opt in to, add by choice — the mirror of fravælge.
- genvælge (genvalgte, genvalgt) — re-elect.
The fravælge / tilvælge pair is especially characteristic of modern Danish, common in everything from school subjects to insurance options, and English usually needs a whole phrase to render them:
Mange forældre fravælger nu sukker i børnenes madpakker.
Many parents now choose to leave sugar out of their children's lunches.
Du kan tilvælge ekstra forsikring, når du booker.
You can add extra insurance when you book.
Borgmesteren blev genvalgt med et stort flertal.
The mayor was re-elected by a large majority.
Because every one of these inherits valgte/valgt, a single mistake — say, reaching for udvælgede — tends to repeat across the whole family. Fix the pattern once on vælge and it transfers.
Vælge vs. udvælge vs. foretrække
These three overlap with English choose, select, and prefer, but each has its own job.
- Vælge = choose, pick — the general verb; pick one option from what's available.
- Udvælge = select, pick out — a deliberate, often careful choosing of a few from many; the ud- stresses sifting and singling out.
- Foretrække = prefer — not the act of choosing but the standing preference behind it; you can foretrække A over B without ever actually picking.
The difference between vælge and foretrække is the one learners blur most. Vælge is the decision; foretrække is the inclination. You can prefer one thing and still choose another.
Jeg foretrækker te, men i dag valgte jeg kaffe.
I prefer tea, but today I chose coffee.
Juryen udvalgte tre finalister blandt hundrede ansøgere.
The jury selected three finalists from a hundred applicants.
When the choice is a firm, reasoned decision about a course of action, beslutte (to decide) is closer than vælge: you vælger an item, but you beslutter a plan.
Common mistakes
❌ Vi vælgede den røde bil.
Incorrect — vælge is mixed; the weak -ede past does not apply.
✅ Vi valgte den røde bil.
We chose the red car.
The most common error is the regularised vælgede. The mixed past is valgte, with the æ → a shift. Tie it to the noun valg.
❌ Hun har vælgt et nyt navn.
Incorrect — the participle also shifts the vowel to valgt.
✅ Hun har valgt et nyt navn.
She has chosen a new name.
The participle is valgt, not vælgt — the vowel shifts in the participle too, not just the past.
❌ Jeg vælger te frem for kaffe hver dag.
Disfavoured — when you mean a standing preference, use foretrække.
✅ Jeg foretrækker te frem for kaffe.
I prefer tea over coffee.
Use foretrække for a general preference and vælge for the act of picking in a given moment.
❌ Han blev vælgt til formand.
Incorrect participle in the passive — it is still valgt.
✅ Han blev valgt til formand.
He was elected chairman.
Key takeaways
- vælge · vælger · valgte · valgt — a mixed verb: vowel shift æ → a plus the weak -te/-t ending.
- Anchor the past to the noun valg (choice, election), which already shows the a.
- Perfect with have: har valgt. Never være.
- vælge = pick now; udvælge = select carefully from many; foretrække = the standing preference.
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.
- ForetrækkeB1 — Full reference for the Danish verb foretrække ('to prefer') — its strong principal parts, the foretrække … frem for construction, and how it differs from godt kunne lide.
- BeslutteB2 — Full reference for beslutte ('to decide') — the regular forms beslutter / besluttede / besluttet, the reflexive beslutte sig for, the noun beslutning, and how it differs from bestemme.