Vi tager afsted nu.

On its own, tage usually does mean take. But in tage afsted, it is part of a fixed expression.

• tage afsted = to leave, to head off, to set off

So in Vi tager afsted nu, the meaning is not literally We take away now, but naturally We’re leaving now or We’re heading off now.

This is very common in Danish: a verb can change meaning when combined with another word.

Afsted gives the idea of away, off, or on one’s way. It is often used with movement verbs and helps create the meaning of departing.

In this sentence:

• tage afsted = leave / go off
• komme afsted can mean get going / manage to leave
• sende nogen afsted = send someone off

So afsted is strongly connected with the idea of departure.

Because Danish does not form the present progressive the way English does.

English often says:

• We are leaving now

But Danish usually just uses the simple present:

• Vi tager afsted nu

So although the Danish form is literally present tense, it often translates into English as either:

• We leave now
• We’re leaving now

depending on what sounds natural in English.

Nu does mean now, but in sentences like this it often adds a sense of immediacy:

• Vi tager afsted nu = We’re leaving now
• It can imply right now, at this moment, or it’s time to go

So it is not just giving time information; it can also make the sentence feel more decisive or urgent.

In modern Danish, it is normally written as afsted in one word.

So you should write:

• Vi tager afsted nu

not:

• Vi tager af sted nu

You may sometimes encounter af sted in older texts or certain stylistic contexts, but for a learner, afsted as one word is the safe standard choice.

Yes, nu can sometimes move, but the basic neutral order here is very natural:

• Vi tager afsted nu

Danish word order is fairly flexible with adverbs, but moving nu can change emphasis.

For example:

• Nu tager vi afsted = Now we’re leaving
  • This puts more emphasis on now
• Vi tager nu afsted is possible, but it sounds more marked or literary in many contexts

So the original sentence is the most neutral everyday version.

A broad learner-friendly guide would be:

• Vi sounds roughly like vee
• tager sounds approximately like TAH-uh or TAY-uh, depending on accent and reduction
• afsted sounds roughly like a-STED

A few important points:

• The g in tager is not pronounced like English g in go
• Danish often reduces unstressed syllables, so tager may sound softer and shorter than you expect
• The stress in afsted is mainly on the second syllable: -sted

If you are learning pronunciation, it is especially helpful to hear native audio, because Danish spelling and pronunciation often do not match in an obvious way for English speakers.

Sometimes, but they do not mean exactly the same thing.

• Vi tager afsted nu = We’re leaving now / heading off now
• Vi går nu = We’re going now / We’re leaving now
  • very common in everyday situations when physically walking away or ending a visit
• Vi rejser nu = We’re traveling now / We’re departing now
  • more connected to a trip or journey, especially longer-distance travel

So tager afsted is a very natural general expression for setting off.

The base form is tage.

Its common forms are:

• infinitive: tage
• present tense: tager
• past tense: tog
• past participle: taget

In this sentence, tager is present tense because the subject is vi and the action is happening now.

It is neutral and very natural in everyday speech. It is neither especially formal nor especially slangy.

You could use it in many normal situations, such as:

• leaving the house
• saying goodbye to friends
• announcing that your group is about to go

So Vi tager afsted nu is a standard, useful sentence for everyday Danish.