The Present Perfect Tense
To talk about actions that happened in the past but are still relevant right now—like completing everyday chores—Danish uses the present perfect tense (førnutid).
Just like in English, you form this tense by using the present tense of the helper verb have (which is har), followed by the past participle of the main verb.
Regular Past Participles
For regular verbs, form the past participle by taking the stem of the verb (usually the infinitive without the final -e) and adding either -et or -t.
- Verbs like male (paint) and rydde op (tidy up) take -et: malet, ryddet op.
- Verbs like tømme (empty) and bestille (order) take -t: tømt, bestilt.
We often use the word allerede (already) with this tense to emphasize that a task is finished.
| I have already tidied up in the kitchen. | Jeg har allerede ryddet op i køkkenet. |
When listing multiple completed actions, you only need to use har once for the subject:
| He has vacuumed the floor and painted the wall. | Han har støvsuget gulvet og malet væggen. |
Asking Questions
To ask if someone has completed a task, form a question by simply inverting the subject and the verb har:
| Have you already emptied the dishwasher? | Har du allerede tømt opvaskemaskinen? |
Negation in the Present Perfect
If you want to say that something has not happened, place the negation word ikke directly after har (and before the past participle):
| My brother has not replied to my message. | Min bror har ikke svaret på min besked. |
| My sister has not vacuumed today. | Min søster har ikke støvsuget i dag. |
