Danish has two shapes of infinitive: the bare infinitive (gå, sove, spise) and the at-infinitive (at gå, at sove, at spise), where at is the infinitive marker, the equivalent of English "to." The whole skill is knowing which slot takes which. The good news is that the rule is almost entirely predictable: modals (and a small handful of other verbs) take the bare infinitive; nearly everything else takes at. This page maps every common slot so you stop guessing. For the basic at marker itself, see the infinitive and at.
Bare infinitive: after modal verbs
After the modal verbs — kunne, skulle, ville, måtte, burde, turde — the infinitive stands bare, with no at. This is the single most important rule, and the one English speakers break constantly, because English keeps "to" after some helpers and drops it after others without obvious logic. In Danish there is no logic to remember: after a modal, never at.
Jeg kan svømme, men jeg vil ikke bade i dag.
I can swim, but I don't want to bathe today.
Du skal huske at låse døren.
You must remember to lock the door. (skal → bare huske; huske then takes at)
Vi burde gå nu.
We ought to go now.
The middle example is instructive: the modal skal is followed by the bare huske, but huske ("remember") is itself a normal verb, so the infinitive after it takes at — at låse. The chain is skal huske at låse. Each link follows its own rule. For the family of modals, see the modals overview.
At-infinitive: after most other verbs
After ordinary (non-modal) verbs, the infinitive takes at. Verbs like prøve (try), begynde (begin), holde op (stop), love (promise), glemme (forget), håbe (hope), beslutte (decide) all govern an at-infinitive.
Hun prøver at sove, men naboerne larmer.
She's trying to sleep, but the neighbours are noisy.
Vi besluttede at blive hjemme.
We decided to stay home.
Jeg glemte at sende mailen.
I forgot to send the email.
At-infinitive: after prepositions
A preposition that governs a verb is followed by an at-infinitive. This is where the purpose- and manner-constructions live — for at, uden at, ved at, i stedet for at, ud over at — each a preposition plus at.
for at — "in order to" (purpose)
For at marks purpose: the reason you do something. English often expresses this with a bare "to" (I went to the shop to buy milk), and learners therefore drop the for — but Danish needs both words. For at is the dedicated purpose marker.
Jeg gik i banken for at hæve penge.
I went to the bank (in order) to withdraw money.
Hun ringede for at undskylde.
She called to apologise.
uden at — "without -ing"
Han gik uden at sige farvel.
He left without saying goodbye.
Du kan ikke lære sproget uden at øve dig.
You can't learn the language without practising.
ved at — "by -ing" (means)
Man lærer at cykle ved at falde et par gange.
You learn to cycle by falling a few times.
Notice that Danish uses an infinitive after these prepositions where English uses an -ing form ("without saying," "by falling"). Do not try to build a Danish gerund here — there isn't one. It is always uden at sige, ved at falde: preposition + at + infinitive.
At-infinitive as subject or object
A whole infinitive phrase can act as the subject or object of a sentence — "to travel is expensive," "I love to read." In subject position especially, the at is obligatory and the phrase behaves like a noun.
At rejse er dyrt, men det er det værd.
Travelling is expensive, but it's worth it. (at rejse = subject)
Jeg elsker at læse om aftenen.
I love reading in the evening. (at læse = object)
Det er svært at sige farvel.
It's hard to say goodbye. (postponed subject with foregrebet det)
The last example shows the common "det er + adjective + at" frame (det er svært at..., det er nemt at..., det er vigtigt at...) — a workhorse pattern for stating that something is hard, easy, important, etc. to do.
The infinitive as instruction: signs, recipes, labels
In the impersonal register of signs, recipes, and labels, Danish uses a bare infinitive as a kind of standing instruction — no subject, often no at. Ikke ryge on a wall means "no smoking"; omrøres grundigt on a packet means "stir thoroughly." This is a real register learners must be able to read, even if they rarely produce it.
Ikke læne sig ud ad vinduet.
Do not lean out of the window. (train-window sign)
Tages 3 gange dagligt efter måltidet.
To be taken 3 times daily after the meal. (medicine label — passive s-infinitive)
Piskes til en luftig masse.
Whisk to a fluffy mixture. (recipe instruction)
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg vil at gå hjem nu.
Wrong — vil is a modal, so no at before the infinitive.
✅ Jeg vil gå hjem nu.
Correct — vil + bare infinitive gå.
❌ Jeg gik i butikken at købe mælk.
Wrong — bare at can't mark purpose here.
✅ Jeg gik i butikken for at købe mælk.
Correct — purpose ('in order to') is for at.
❌ Han gik uden sige farvel.
Wrong — a preposition governing a verb needs at.
✅ Han gik uden at sige farvel.
Correct — uden at + infinitive.
❌ Hun prøver sove.
Wrong — non-modal prøve takes an at-infinitive.
✅ Hun prøver at sove.
Correct — prøve at sove.
Key Takeaways
- Bare infinitive after modals (kan gå, vil sove, bør blive) — never at. See mistakes: modal + at.
- At-infinitive after everything else — other verbs (prøver at sove) and prepositions (uden at sige).
- Purpose "to" = for at, not bare at: for at købe mælk ("in order to buy milk").
- After uden at and ved at, Danish uses an infinitive where English uses -ing.
- An infinitive phrase can be a subject or object (at rejse er dyrt; jeg elsker at læse).
- Signs, recipes and labels use a bare or -s infinitive as an instruction (ikke ryge, tages 3 gange dagligt) — learn to read it.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The Infinitive and the Marker AtA1 — The Danish infinitive, the infinitive marker at ('to'), when to use it and when to drop it — and the notorious at/og spelling trap.
- Modal Verbs: An OverviewA2 — The six core Danish modals — kunne, ville, skulle, måtte, burde, turde — their present and past forms, and the iron rule that they take a bare infinitive with no at.
- Adding At After ModalsA1 — Danish modal verbs take a bare infinitive with no 'at' — so 'jeg vil at gå' is wrong; it's 'jeg vil gå', mirroring English 'I want to go' minus the 'to'.
- Conditionals: Hvis-clauses and VilleB1 — Real and unreal conditional sentences in Danish — and why the language uses the plain past tense, not a special subjunctive, for hypothetical situations.