Verbs in more than one word
Danish builds many everyday verbs from a verb plus one or two small words. The small word changes the meaning completely, and in speech it carries the stress: holde AF, holde UD, holde OP med. Learn each one as a unit.
| Danish | English | compare |
|---|---|---|
| holde af | to be fond of | kunne lide: to like |
| holde ud | to bear, to stand | tåle: to tolerate |
| holde op med | to stop doing | lade være med: to not do, to leave alone |
| lade som om | to pretend | |
| sætte pris på | to appreciate | |
| ombestemme sig | to change your mind |
| She is pretending to be asleep. | Hun lader som om hun sover. |
Lade som om is followed by a whole clause with its own subject and verb.
| I really appreciate your help. | Jeg sætter stor pris på din hjælp. |
Stor in the middle makes sætte pris på stronger.
Holde af and holde ud
| I am very fond of you. | Jeg holder meget af dig. |
Holde af is warmer than kunne lide, and you usually say it about people and animals. Meget goes between holde and af.
| How can you stand him? | Hvordan kan du holde ham ud? |
Holde ud mostly comes with a negation or in a question. What you cannot bear goes between holde and ud.
| The noise from the neighbor is unbearable. | Støjen fra naboen er ikke til at holde ud. |
Ikke til at holde ud is a fixed way to say "unbearable".
Stopping and changing your mind
| He quit smoking last year. | Han holdt op med at ryge sidste år. |
Holde op med at + infinitive is the everyday way to stop a habit.
| When will it stop raining? | Hvornår holder det op med at regne? |
It works for the weather too.
| I have changed my mind. | Jeg har ombestemt mig. |
Ombestemme sig is reflexive: jeg ombestemmer mig, du ombestemmer dig, hun ombestemmer sig.
