Lad være med at gå ud, hvis det regner.

In this sentence, lad være med at + infinitive means don’t do something or refrain from doing something.

So:

• Lad være med at gå ud = Don’t go out

This is a very common Danish way to make a negative command, especially before another verb in the infinitive.

You can think of it as:

• lad være med at spise = don’t eat
• lad være med at råbe = don’t shout

It is often more natural in Danish than trying to translate English don’t directly.

Because Danish usually does not form negative commands the way English does.

In English, you can say:

• Go out
• Don’t go out

But in Danish, the most common way to say don’t + verb is:

• Lad være med at + infinitive

So instead of a direct equivalent of don’t go out, Danish says something more like:

• Leave off going out
• or more naturally, Don’t go out

You may also hear short negative imperatives with ikke, but lad være med at is extremely common and often the safest choice for learners.

They are part of the fixed construction.

The pattern is:

• lad være med at + infinitive

So:

• lad være med at gå
• lad være med at spise
• lad være med at sige det

Here:

• med belongs to the expression være med
• at introduces the infinitive verb
• gå is the infinitive
• ud is part of the verb phrase gå ud

Even if it feels a bit long from an English point of view, Danish treats this as a normal set phrase.

Because gå ud means go out, while gå by itself usually just means walk or go in a more general sense.

Compare:

• gå = walk / go
• gå ud = go out

So:

• Lad være med at gå = Don’t walk / Don’t leave by walking / Don’t go
• Lad være med at gå ud = Don’t go out

The ud is important because it gives the meaning of leaving the house/building or going outside.

Hvis means if.

So:

• hvis det regner = if it is raining / if it rains

It introduces a condition:

• Don’t go out, if it rains

This is a standard way to make conditional sentences in Danish.

In det regner, the word det is a dummy subject, just like it in English weather expressions.

So:

• det regner = it is raining
• det sner = it is snowing
• det blæser = it is windy

The det does not refer to a specific thing. It is just required grammatically.

English does exactly the same thing:

• It is raining

Regner is the present tense of regne in the sense to rain.

In Danish, just like in English, the present tense is often used in if-clauses when talking about the future.

So:

• hvis det regner = if it rains / if it is raining

This does not have to mean only right now. It can also refer to a future situation.

That is completely normal:

• Hvis han kommer, ringer jeg til dig = If he comes, I’ll call you
• Hvis det regner, bliver vi hjemme = If it rains, we’ll stay home

Because lad være is an imperative form, meaning it is a command.

In Danish, just like in English, commands usually leave out the subject:

• Gå ud! = Go out!
• Lad være med at gå ud! = Don’t go out!

The implied subject is usually you.

If you want to make the subject explicit, Danish can do that in some contexts, but normally it is omitted in commands.

The clause hvis det regner is a subordinate clause, introduced by hvis.

Its order is:

• hvis = if
• det = it
• regner = rains

This is very straightforward and matches English quite well.

The full sentence is:

• Lad være med at gå ud, hvis det regner.

Main clause first:

• Lad være med at gå ud

Subordinate clause second:

• hvis det regner

You could also put the if-clause first, but then Danish often sounds more natural with så:

• Hvis det regner, så lad være med at gå ud.

Yes, Gå ikke ud is understandable and grammatically possible, and it also means Don’t go out.

But there is a nuance:

• Lad være med at gå ud is a very common and natural way to give a negative command.
• Gå ikke ud is shorter and also correct, but it can sometimes sound a bit more direct or less idiomatic depending on context.

As a learner, lad være med at + infinitive is a very useful pattern to know because it works in many situations.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker could be:

• Lad ≈ la
• være ≈ VEH-uh or VAIR-uh (depending on accent; Danish vowels are tricky)
• med at often gets reduced in natural speech, something like me-at or með a
• gå ≈ gaw with a rounded vowel
• ud ≈ ooð or oo, depending on how clearly it is said
• hvis ≈ vis
• det ≈ de
• regner ≈ RAIN-er but with a softer Danish r

In natural speech, the sentence may sound more compressed than the spelling suggests. Danish often reduces unstressed syllables.

A useful learner rhythm is:

• Lad VÆRE med at gå UD, hvis det REGner.

Stress is especially noticeable on:

• være
• ud
• regner

The sentence follows this pattern:

• negative command + conditional clause

More specifically:

• Lad være med at + infinitive, hvis + subject + verb

So here:

• Lad være med at = don’t
• gå ud = go out
• hvis = if
• det regner = it rains / it is raining

This pattern is very useful and easy to reuse:

• Lad være med at køre, hvis du er træt. = Don’t drive if you are tired.
• Lad være med at åbne vinduet, hvis det er koldt. = Don’t open the window if it is cold.