In a light-verb construction, the verb has been hollowed out. It carries almost no meaning of its own; the real content sits in the noun. Tage en beslutning ("take a decision") means simply "decide" — the verb tage contributes next to nothing, and beslutning ("decision") does all the lifting. These constructions are everywhere in formal and written Danish, and they trip up advanced learners for one reason: the light verb that pairs with a given noun is fixed by convention and is almost never the literal translation of the English "make / take / do / give." This page shows you the pairings that matter and how to stop guessing.
What a light verb is — and isn't
Compare the simple verb with its light-verb paraphrase:
| Simple verb | Light-verb construction | English |
|---|---|---|
| beslutte | træffe / tage en beslutning | to decide |
| tale | holde en tale | to give a speech |
| forsøge | gøre et forsøg | to make an attempt |
| vælge | træffe et valg | to make a choice |
| spørge | stille et spørgsmål | to ask a question |
| undersøge | foretage en undersøgelse | to carry out an investigation |
| konkludere | drage en konklusion | to draw a conclusion |
| fejle | begå en fejl | to make a mistake |
The simple verb and the light-verb version usually mean the same thing, but the light-verb version is more nominal, more formal, and often more idiomatic. It also lets you hang adjectives on the noun: træffe en vigtig beslutning ("make an important decision"), which is tidier than trying to modify the plain verb beslutte.
Vi er nødt til at træffe en beslutning inden fredag.
We have to make a decision before Friday.
Ministeren holdt en lang tale om klimaet.
The minister gave a long speech about the climate.
The four workhorses: tage, gøre, holde, træffe
A handful of light verbs cover most of the territory. Knowing which noun each one claims is the whole game.
Tage ("take") — decisions, initiative, the floor, account:
Hun tog initiativ til at samle holdet igen.
She took the initiative to bring the team together again.
Du må tage hensyn til de andre i lejligheden.
You have to take the others in the flat into consideration.
Gøre ("do/make") — attempts, efforts, an impression, a difference:
Han gjorde et stort indtryk på panelet.
He made a strong impression on the panel.
Det gør ingen forskel, hvad vi siger.
It makes no difference what we say.
Holde ("hold") — speeches, presentations, breaks, eye on:
Vi holder en kort pause og fortsætter klokken to.
We'll take a short break and continue at two.
Træffe ("strike/meet") — decisions, choices, arrangements, measures:
Bestyrelsen har truffet en række foranstaltninger.
The board has taken a number of measures.
Notice how the English glosses scatter: "take initiative," "make an impression," "give a speech," "take measures." There is no consistent English-to-Danish verb mapping; each pairing is its own fact.
Register: when to prefer the light-verb version
Light-verb constructions lean formal, written, and bureaucratic. In a report, an essay, or an official notice they are the natural choice; in casual speech the simple verb is often crisper.
Udvalget foretog en grundig undersøgelse af sagen.
The committee carried out a thorough investigation of the matter. (formal/written)
De undersøgte sagen grundigt.
They investigated the matter thoroughly. (neutral/spoken)
Both are correct. The first belongs in a printed report; the second is what you would say across a table. Part of C1 fluency is choosing the register-appropriate one rather than reaching for the same form everywhere. For the broader pattern of preferring nouns over verbs in formal Danish, see nominal style.
Collocation, not composition
The single most useful idea here: these are collocations, learned wholesale, not phrases you assemble from parts. Begå en fejl ("make a mistake") uses begå — a verb otherwise reserved for crimes and serious lapses (begå en forbrydelse, "commit a crime") — and no other light verb will do. You cannot reason your way to begå; you memorise begå en fejl as a unit.
Jeg begik en alvorlig fejl i regnskabet.
I made a serious mistake in the accounts.
Lad os stille de rigtige spørgsmål, før vi går videre.
Let's ask the right questions before we move on.
For systematic lists of which nouns pair with tage, gøre, and the others, the Collocations group is your reference — see the collocations overview, the tage collocations, and the gøre collocations.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vi skal gøre en beslutning i dag.
Incorrect — English 'make a decision' transferred to the wrong verb.
✅ Vi skal træffe en beslutning i dag.
We need to make a decision today.
A decision is truffet or taget, never *gjort. Træffe (formal) and tage (everyday) are the only options.
❌ Hun lavede en tale til brylluppet.
Incorrect — 'lave' (make/produce) does not collocate with 'tale'.
✅ Hun holdt en tale til brylluppet.
She gave a speech at the wedding.
A speech is holdt. Holde is the fixed partner for tale, foredrag, præsentation.
❌ Han tog en fejl i beregningen.
Incorrect — a mistake is not 'taken'.
✅ Han begik en fejl i beregningen.
He made a mistake in the calculation.
Fejl collocates with begå (or, more colloquially, lave en fejl) — never tage.
❌ Vi gjorde et valg mellem de to tilbud.
Awkward — 'valg' takes træffe, not gøre.
✅ Vi traf et valg mellem de to tilbud.
We made a choice between the two offers.
A choice, like a decision, is truffet. Træffe et valg is the set phrase.
❌ Jeg vil tage et spørgsmål.
Incorrect — questions are 'put/posed', not 'taken'.
✅ Jeg vil stille et spørgsmål.
I'd like to ask a question.
Spørgsmål collocates with stille ("place/pose"). This pairing has no logical link to English "ask"; memorise it.
Key Takeaways
- In a light-verb construction the noun carries the meaning; the verb is a near-empty carrier.
- The light verb is chosen by fixed collocation, almost never by translating the English verb.
- Workhorses: tage (initiative, hensyn), gøre (forsøg, indtryk), holde (tale, pause), træffe (beslutning, valg).
- Light-verb versions lean formal/written; the simple verb is often better in speech.
- Træffe en beslutning, holde en tale, begå en fejl, stille et spørgsmål: learn each as one unit.
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
- Collocations: An OverviewB2 — Why Danish pairs specific light verbs (tage, gøre, få, lave, holde) with specific nouns, and how to learn these fixed combinations instead of translating word-for-word.
- Nominalisation and Written StyleC1 — How formal and administrative Danish compresses clauses into noun phrases — the heavy nominal style (kancellistil), how to read it, and why a verb is usually clearer.
- Collocations with TageB2 — The fixed expressions built on tage ('take') — tage en beslutning, tage fejl, tage sig af, tage stilling til — and where Danish 'tage' parts ways with English 'take'.
- Collocations with GøreB2 — The fixed expressions built on gøre ('do/make') — gøre rent, gøre ondt, gøre indtryk, gøre opmærksom på — and the gøre-versus-lave split that English speakers struggle with.