You already know the -s passive: Bilen sælges ("the car is being sold"). But Danish has a whole class of verbs that carry a fixed -s and are not passive at all. Their -s is part of the dictionary form — you cannot remove it and keep the meaning. These fall into two groups: reciprocals, where the -s means "each other" (mødes = "meet each other"), and deponent/middle verbs, where the -s is simply lexicalised with no passive sense at all (synes = "think/seem," findes = "exist"). Mastering them is essential, because some of the most common verbs in Danish — synes, findes, lykkes, mødes — live in this class.
The trap for English speakers is reading the -s as a passive and translating Vi mødes i morgen as "We are met tomorrow." It means "We are meeting tomorrow." The -s here is reciprocal, not passive.
Reciprocal -s verbs: "each other"
A reciprocal verb describes two or more parties acting on each other. Danish builds many of these with -s, and they require a plural (or coordinated) subject — it takes two to meet, fight, or see each other.
| Verb | Meaning | Plain counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| mødes | meet (each other) | møde (meet someone) |
| ses | see each other / "see you" | se (see) |
| skændes | quarrel, argue | — |
| slås | fight (physically) | slå (hit) |
| enes | get along, agree | — |
| følges (ad) | go together, accompany each other | følge (follow) |
Vi mødes klokken syv ved stationen.
We're meeting at seven by the station.
Vi ses i morgen!
See you tomorrow!
Vi ses! is one of the most common goodbyes in Danish — literally "we see each other," idiomatically "see you." It is fixed and everyday (informal).
Børnene skændes altid om fjernbetjeningen.
The kids are always squabbling over the remote.
De to drenge sloges i skolegården.
The two boys were fighting in the schoolyard.
Note sloges — the past of slås is irregular, mirroring the strong past slog of slå with the -s on top.
Deponent / middle -s verbs
These verbs simply are their -s form — there is no active counterpart that means the same thing. Linguists call them deponent (passive in form, active in meaning) or middle verbs. The most important ones are extremely high-frequency.
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| synes | think (have an opinion) / seem |
| findes | exist, be found, there is/are |
| lykkes | succeed (impersonal: det lykkes mig) |
| mislykkes | fail, go wrong |
| trives | thrive, be doing well |
| længes (efter) | long (for) |
synes — opinion and seeming
synes expresses a personal opinion or impression — "I think / it seems to me." It is distinct from tro (believe) and tænke (think a thought); see synes vs tro vs tænke.
Jeg synes, at filmen var lidt for lang.
I think the film was a bit too long.
Det synes jeg også.
I think so too.
findes — existence
findes is the standard way to say something exists or there is/are some — especially for general existence rather than a specific location.
Den slags fejl findes ikke længere i den nye udgave.
That kind of error no longer exists in the new edition.
Findes der en bedre måde at gøre det på?
Is there a better way to do this?
lykkes — impersonal success
lykkes is impersonal: the thing that succeeds is the subject (usually det), and the person it works out for goes in the dative-like slot with no preposition.
Det lykkedes mig endelig at åbne døren.
I finally managed to open the door.
Planen mislykkedes fuldstændigt.
The plan failed completely.
Conjugation
These verbs keep the -s through every tense, stacked onto an otherwise normal conjugation. Two patterns to know well:
| Infinitive | Present | Past | Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| at synes | synes | syntes | har syntes |
| at findes | findes | fandtes | har fandtes / har eksisteret |
| at mødes | mødes | mødtes | har mødtes |
| at lykkes | lykkes | lykkedes | er lykkedes |
| at slås | slås | sloges | har slåedes / har sloges |
Two pitfalls worth flagging. First, the present and infinitive of synes are identical (synes) — the form does not change in the present, so jeg synes / vi synes / at synes all look the same. Second, syntes (past) and synes (present) differ by just one letter and one sound, and Danes themselves frequently misspell them; jeg syntes = "I thought," jeg synes = "I think."
Dengang syntes jeg, det var en god idé.
Back then I thought it was a good idea.
Vi mødtes første gang i 2019.
We met for the first time in 2019.
Reciprocal -s vs hinanden
For many reciprocals you have a choice: the -s form or hinanden ("each other") with the plain verb. They are close, but the -s form is tighter and often more idiomatic.
Vi ses på fredag. / Vi ser hinanden på fredag.
We'll see each other on Friday.
Some verbs strongly prefer one or the other: Vi ses! is fixed, while De hjælper hinanden ("they help each other") uses hinanden because hjælpes is not idiomatic. See reciprocal pronouns for the full picture, and the -s passive for the contrast with true passives.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vi møder i morgen klokken syv.
Incorrect — without -s this means 'we meet someone'; the reciprocal needs mødes.
✅ Vi mødes i morgen klokken syv.
We're meeting tomorrow at seven.
❌ Jeg tror, at filmen var for lang.
Incorrect — for a personal opinion/impression Danish uses synes, not tro.
✅ Jeg synes, at filmen var for lang.
I think the film was too long.
❌ Den slags fejl findess ikke mere.
Incorrect — the verb already ends in -s; don't double it.
✅ Den slags fejl findes ikke mere.
That kind of error doesn't exist anymore.
❌ Det lykkede mig at åbne døren.
Incorrect — lykkes keeps its -s in every tense, including the past (lykkedes).
✅ Det lykkedes mig at åbne døren.
I managed to open the door.
❌ Jeg synes det i går.
Incorrect — past 'I thought' is syntes, not synes.
✅ Jeg syntes det i går.
I thought so yesterday.
Key Takeaways
- A lexical -s verb carries the -s in the dictionary; it is not a passive and cannot be made active.
- Reciprocals (mødes, ses, skændes, slås) mean "each other" and need a plural/coordinated subject.
- Deponent/middle verbs (synes, findes, lykkes, mislykkes, trives) are active in meaning despite the -s.
- The -s stays through every tense: synes–syntes, mødes–mødtes, lykkes–lykkedes.
- Test for a passive by trying an active rephrase — if there is no active equivalent, it is a deponent.
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The -s PassiveB1 — The synthetic -s passive — formed by adding -s to the verb (taler → tales) — is the natural Danish passive for general truths, instructions, notices, recipes, and modal constructions. Here is how to build and use it.
- Reciprocal Pronouns: HinandenB2 — Hinanden means 'each other'; how it differs from the reflexive sig selv and from the reciprocal -s verbs like mødes and ses — Danish's three-way system for reciprocity.
- SynesB2 — Full reference for the deponent -s verb synes ('to think / find / seem'), the synes/syntes spelling trap, and how it differs from tro, mene and tænke.
- The -s Form: Passive, Reciprocal, DeponentC1 — One flowchart for every verb ending in -s: how to tell a passive from a 'each-other' reciprocal from a fixed deponent — and why reading every -s as passive misleads you.
- Synes, Tro, Tænke: Three Ways to ThinkB1 — How to choose between synes (opinion), tro (belief/guess) and tænke (the mental activity) — Danish splits English 'think' three ways.