A verb ending in -s is one of the most quietly tricky things in Danish, because the same little ending does three completely different jobs. Bøgerne sælges means books are sold (passive). Vi mødes klokken syv means we meet each other at seven (reciprocal). Det lykkes mig means I succeed — and there is no agent and no "each other" at all (deponent). If you read every -s as a passive, you will badly mistranslate two of these three. This page gives you a single parsing routine that resolves any -s verb you meet.
The three jobs of verbal -s
The Danish -s is a descendant of an old reflexive sik ("oneself") fused onto the verb. That single origin fanned out into three modern functions:
| Job | What -s does | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive | Demotes the agent; subject is acted upon | Bøgerne sælges her. | Books are sold here. |
| Reciprocal | Adds "each other" to a plural subject | Vi ses i morgen. | We'll see each other tomorrow. |
| Deponent | Fixed lexical -s; active meaning, no -s-free form | Jeg synes, det er godt. | I think it's good. |
The reason this matters at C1 is that the three look identical on the page. Mødes could in principle be a passive ("be met"), but in practice it is reciprocal ("meet each other"). Synes looks passive but is purely lexical. Only a parsing routine, not the surface form, tells them apart.
The parsing flowchart
Faced with any -s verb, run these three questions in order. The first "yes" wins.
Is there a non--s form of this verb, and does the meaning shift completely when you add -s? If there is no -s-free counterpart, it is a deponent. Synes, lykkes, mislykkes, findes, trives, omgås, længes simply have no active twin — *syne, *lykke do not exist with these meanings.
Could you paraphrase it with "each other" (hinanden), and is the subject plural or coordinated? If yes, it is reciprocal. Vi mødes = vi møder hinanden. De skændes = de skændes med hinanden.
Can you restore a demoted agent — rephrase it as "someone X-es the subject" or add af
- agent?
Job 1 — Passive
The passive -s demotes the agent and promotes the patient to subject. It is the synthetic counterpart of the blive passive and is favoured in general statements, rules, instructions, and timeless or habitual contexts.
Cyklerne repareres på værkstedet om hjørnet.
The bikes are repaired at the workshop around the corner.
Døren åbnes automatisk, når du træder på måtten.
The door opens / is opened automatically when you step on the mat.
Ansøgningen skal indsendes senest fredag.
The application must be submitted by Friday at the latest.
The agent-restoration test works cleanly here: nogen reparerer cyklerne, du skal indsende ansøgningen. There is always a hidden "someone." For the full treatment, see the -s passive and its contrast with the være-state in the være passive.
Job 2 — Reciprocal
With a plural or coordinated subject, -s can mean the participants act on each other. This is extremely common with a small set of social verbs.
Vi mødes uden for biografen klokken otte.
We'll meet (each other) outside the cinema at eight.
Vi ses!
See you! (literally: we'll see each other)
Naboerne skændes konstant om hækken.
The neighbours are constantly quarrelling (with each other) about the hedge.
De har fulgtes ad hele vejen hjem.
They walked together (kept each other company) all the way home.
The high-frequency reciprocals worth memorising: mødes (meet), ses (see one another), skændes (quarrel), slås (fight), enes (get along / agree), følges (ad) (go together), kysses (kiss). The agent-restoration test fails here — vi ses is not "we are seen by someone" — which is precisely how you know it is reciprocal, not passive.
Job 3 — Deponent
A deponent verb wears the -s permanently. It has an active meaning but simply has no -s-free form. You cannot strip the -s; the bare stem either does not exist or means something unrelated.
Jeg synes, at filmen var lidt for lang.
I think the film was a bit too long.
Det lykkedes os endelig at få billetter.
We finally succeeded in getting tickets.
Der findes ingen nem løsning på det problem.
There's no easy solution to that problem. (findes = exist)
Hun trives virkelig i sit nye job.
She's really thriving in her new job.
Core deponents to know: synes (think/feel), lykkes / mislykkes (succeed / fail), findes (exist), trives (thrive), længes (long for), omgås (associate with), ældes (age). None has a usable non--s twin, so question 1 of the flowchart catches them immediately. For the full list and conjugation, see deponent -s verbs.
How -s verbs conjugate
Across all three jobs, the -s verb conjugates the same way: you attach -s to the present and a past in -edes or -tes, while the compound tenses use the -s participle with blevet dropped.
| Tense | Form (mødes) | Form (lykkes) |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | at mødes | at lykkes |
| Present | mødes | lykkes |
| Past | mødtes | lykkedes |
| Perfect | har mødtes | er lykkedes |
Vi mødtes første gang til en koncert i 2019.
We first met at a concert in 2019.
The ambiguous case, resolved by context
Sometimes a single -s form could in principle be passive or reciprocal, and only context decides. Take ses:
Bjerget ses tydeligt herfra.
The mountain is clearly visible from here. (passive: it is seen)
Vi ses i morgen!
See you tomorrow! (reciprocal: we'll see each other)
The first has a singular, inanimate subject and a restorable agent (man ser bjerget) — passive. The second has a plural human subject and an obvious "each other" reading — reciprocal. The form is identical; the flowchart, run on the context, gives different answers. That is exactly why a single routine beats memorising each verb's "type" in isolation.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg er enig — filmen synes godt.
Incorrect — synes is a deponent meaning 'I think/feel', and it needs a subject who holds the opinion.
✅ Jeg synes, filmen var god.
I think the film was good.
Synes is not a passive ("be thought"). It is an active deponent expressing the speaker's impression; the experiencer is its subject.
❌ Vi ses af hinanden i morgen.
Incorrect — reciprocal -s already contains 'each other'; the agent phrase is wrong.
✅ Vi ses i morgen.
We'll see each other tomorrow.
Do not bolt an af-agent onto a reciprocal. The "each other" is already inside the -s.
❌ Der lykkes mange gode ting i det projekt.
Reads oddly — lykkes is impersonal and takes 'det' + an infinitive, not a plural subject.
✅ Det lykkedes os at gennemføre projektet.
We managed to carry the project through.
Lykkes is a fixed deponent used impersonally: det lykkes (nogen) at gøre noget. It does not take an ordinary plural subject like a passive.
❌ Bøgerne mødes på lageret hver mandag.
Wrong job — mødes is reciprocal (people meet); books cannot 'meet each other'.
✅ Bøgerne leveres til lageret hver mandag.
The books are delivered to the warehouse every Monday. (true passive)
If the subject is inanimate and you mean "are X-ed," you want a passive verb, not the reciprocal mødes.
❌ Findes du en god restaurant i nærheden?
Incorrect — findes (exist) cannot take a personal subject like this.
✅ Findes der en god restaurant i nærheden?
Is there a good restaurant nearby?
Deponent findes means "exist" and pairs with the dummy der, not a "you" agent.
Key Takeaways
- Three jobs share one ending: passive (demoted agent), reciprocal ("each other"), deponent (fixed lexical -s).
- Run the flowchart in order: deponent → reciprocal → passive.
- Tests: no non--s form ⇒ deponent; paraphrasable with hinanden ⇒ reciprocal; restorable agent ⇒ passive.
- The biggest error is reading every -s as a passive — synes, lykkes, mødes prove that wrong.
- Ambiguous forms like ses are resolved by context, which is why one routine beats per-verb memorisation.
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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.
- Lexical -s Verbs: Synes, Mødes, FindesB2 — Danish verbs that carry a fixed -s with non-passive meaning — reciprocals like mødes and ses, and deponent/middle verbs like synes, findes, and lykkes — plus how to conjugate them and why they are not passives.
- 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.
- The Være Passive (Resultant State)C1 — How 'være + past participle' describes the resulting state rather than the action — and why English 'is X-ed' splits into Danish være vs blive.