Future Tense in Danish

In Brief

Danish has no single verb form equivalent to an English future tense. It normally refers to the future with the present tense, skal + infinitive, vil + infinitive, or kommer til at + infinitive. The best choice depends on whether you are describing a scheduled event, an intention, a prediction, or an expected result.

Overview

Talking about the future in Danish is less about forming a new tense and more about choosing the expression that matches your meaning. Danish verbs do not take a special future ending: rejser can mean “travel” or, with a future time expression, “will travel.” Other meanings are supplied by the modal verbs skal and vil, or by the phrase kommer til at.

This is a B1 topic because the individual forms are familiar, but the contrast between them takes practice. In particular, English will does not automatically translate as Danish vil. Depending on the context, a natural Danish sentence may use the present tense, skal, vil, or kommer til at.

You will need the infinitive (the basic verb form, such as rejse, “to travel”) in all three multi-verb patterns. After skal and vil, Danish uses the infinitive without at. In kommer til at, however, at is a fixed part of the construction.

How It Works

The four main choices

Form	Basic pattern	Typical meaning	Example
Present tense	present verb + future context	arrangement, schedule, or event treated as settled	Toget kører klokken otte.
skal	skal + infinitive	intention, plan, arrangement, or obligation	Jeg skal besøge Maja.
vil	vil + infinitive	prediction, assumption, or willingness; sometimes desire	Det vil tage en time.
kommer til at	kommer til at + infinitive	expected outcome, likely development, or consequence	Det kommer til at koste mere.

These meanings overlap. Danish speakers may choose different forms depending on what they want to emphasize, so it is more useful to learn the central tendency of each form than to search for a rigid one-to-one rule.

1. Present tense for a settled future

The simple present is very common when the time is already clear. A future time phrase such as i morgen (tomorrow), på fredag (on Friday), næste uge (next week), or om en time (in an hour) tells the listener that the event is not happening now.

• Vi tager afsted næste uge. — “We’re leaving next week.”
• Kurset begynder på mandag. — “The course starts on Monday.”
• Jeg ringer til dig senere. — “I’ll call you later.”

This form often presents the event as arranged, scheduled, or simply expected. It is especially natural for timetables and appointments. Without a future marker or enough context, however, the same sentence may be understood as present or habitual: Jeg arbejder hjemme normally means “I work/am working from home,” while Jeg arbejder hjemme i morgen clearly refers to tomorrow.

2. Skal for plans, intentions, and obligations

Use skal + infinitive when a future action is planned or intended:

• Jeg skal rejse i morgen. — “I’m going to travel tomorrow.”
• Vi skal spise sammen på lørdag. — “We’re going to eat together on Saturday.”

The main verb stays in the infinitive and does not take at: skal rejse, not skal at rejse. Like other Danish modal verbs, skal itself does not change with the person: jeg skal, du skal, de skal.

Skal also expresses duty or necessity, so context matters:

• Jeg skal sende ansøgningen i dag. can mean “I’m going to send the application today” or “I have to send the application today.”

A clear plan, an external requirement, and an intention can all point toward the future. Danish does not always force the speaker to separate these readings.

3. Vil for predictions—and sometimes wishes

Use vil + infinitive for predictions, forecasts, assumptions, and statements about what is expected to be true:

• Det vil regne senere. — “It will rain later.”
• Den nye løsning vil spare tid. — “The new solution will save time.”

Again, the infinitive has no at: vil regne, not vil at regne.

With a person or another agent capable of having wishes, vil often means want to rather than neutral future:

• Hun vil rejse. — most readily, “She wants to travel.”
• Hun skal rejse i morgen. — “She is going to travel tomorrow” or “She has to travel tomorrow.”
• Hun rejser i morgen. — “She is travelling tomorrow.”

This is one of the biggest traps for English speakers. Translating every English will with vil can accidentally turn a future statement into a statement about desire. Context may still give vil a predictive reading, but another form is often clearer for personal plans.

4. Kommer til at for expected results and developments

The pattern is:

subject + kommer til at + infinitive

A subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. In Det kommer til at regne, det is the subject and regne is the infinitive.

Use this construction when something is likely to happen, seems to be developing in a certain direction, or will result from present circumstances:

• Hun kommer til at blive læge. — “She’s going to become a doctor.”
• Du kommer til at kunne lide København. — “You’re going to like Copenhagen.”
• Det kommer til at tage lang tid. — “It’s going to take a long time.”

It can sound less like a deliberate plan than skal. Compare:

• Jeg skal bo i Aarhus næste år. — I plan or am scheduled to live in Aarhus.
• Jeg kommer til at bo i Aarhus næste år. — Circumstances will result in my living in Aarhus, or this is the expected outcome.

Negation and questions

In a main statement, ikke normally follows the finite verb (the verb carrying tense, here skal, vil, or kommer):

• Jeg skal ikke arbejde i weekenden.
• Det vil ikke ændre noget.
• Hun kommer ikke til at glemme det.

With the simple present, the same pattern applies: Vi rejser ikke på fredag. Be careful with vil ikke: when the subject is a person, it often means “does not want to” or “refuses to,” not merely “will not.”

In a yes/no question, put the finite verb before the subject:

• Skal du arbejde i morgen? — “Are you working tomorrow?”
• Vil det blive dyrt? — “Will it be expensive?”
• Kommer de til at savne os? — “Are they going to miss us?”

Word order when a time phrase comes first

Danish main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb occupies the second position. If a future time phrase comes first, the subject moves after the verb:

• I morgen rejser jeg til Odense. — “Tomorrow I’m travelling to Odense.”
• Næste år skal vi flytte. — “Next year we’re going to move.”
• Senere vil det blive koldere. — “Later it will get colder.”

Do not count individual words; count sentence elements. Næste år is one time element, followed by skal, then vi.

In a subordinate clause (a clause that depends on another part of the sentence), ikke comes before the finite verb:

• Jeg bliver hjemme, fordi jeg ikke skal arbejde. — “I’m staying home because I’m not working.”
• Hun tror, at det ikke vil regne. — “She thinks that it won’t rain.”

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg skal rejse i morgen.	I’m going to travel tomorrow.	A planned or intended trip
Det vil regne i eftermiddag.	It will rain this afternoon.	Weather prediction
Hun kommer til at blive læge.	She’s going to become a doctor.	Expected future development
Vi tager afsted næste uge.	We’re leaving next week.	Present tense with future time
Toget ankommer klokken 18.12.	The train arrives at 6:12 p.m.	Timetable or schedule
På fredag skal jeg mødes med min chef.	On Friday I’m meeting my boss.	Skal for an arrangement; V2 word order
Den nye bro vil gøre turen kortere.	The new bridge will make the journey shorter.	Prediction about an effect
Det kommer til at gøre ondt i starten.	It’s going to hurt at first.	Expected result or warning
Jeg ringer, når jeg kommer hjem.	I’ll call when I get home.	Present tense in both clauses
Skal I bo på hotel?	Are you going to stay at a hotel?	Question about a plan
Hun kommer ikke til at deltage i mødet.	She isn’t going to take part in the meeting.	Negation after kommer
Om ti år vil byen se helt anderledes ud.	In ten years the city will look completely different.	Longer-term prediction
Vi skal nok finde en løsning.	We’ll find a solution, don’t worry.	Reassuring promise with nok
Hvis vejret er godt, spiser vi ude.	If the weather is good, we’ll eat outside.	Present tense in a condition and its result

Common Mistakes

Translating every English “will” as vil

• Wrong: Jeg vil besøge min søster i morgen. (if you only mean that the visit is arranged)
• Better: Jeg skal besøge min søster i morgen. / Jeg besøger min søster i morgen.
• Why: Jeg vil besøge can be understood as “I want to visit.” Use skal or the present tense for a personal arrangement unless desire is the intended meaning.

Adding at after skal or vil

• Wrong: Vi skal at købe billetter.
• Right: Vi skal købe billetter.
• Why: Modal verbs take a bare infinitive—an infinitive without at. The fixed phrase kommer til at købe does include at.

Removing at from kommer til at

• Wrong: Det kommer til koste mere.
• Right: Det kommer til at koste mere.
• Why: Til at belongs to this future construction and must be followed by the infinitive.

Forgetting V2 word order after a time phrase

• Wrong: I morgen jeg skal arbejde hjemme.
• Right: I morgen skal jeg arbejde hjemme.
• Why: In a Danish main clause, the finite verb comes second. Placing i morgen first puts skal before the subject jeg.

Using a present form without enough future context

• Unclear: Vi mødes.
• Clear: Vi mødes i morgen klokken ni.
• Why: The present tense can refer to the future, but the listener needs a time expression or context that establishes when the meeting will happen.

Misplacing ikke

• Wrong main clause: Hun ikke skal rejse på mandag.
• Right main clause: Hun skal ikke rejse på mandag.
• Right subordinate clause: Jeg ved, at hun ikke skal rejse på mandag.
• Why: Main and subordinate clauses place sentence adverbs such as ikke differently.

Usage Notes

Plans can sound different depending on the speaker’s viewpoint

The present tense often makes an arrangement sound settled: Vi flyver på tirsdag. Skal can emphasize the plan, assignment, or necessity: Vi skal flyve på tirsdag. Kommer til at presents the event as an expected outcome: Vi kommer til at flyve på tirsdag, fordi færgen er aflyst. All three may describe the same real-world event, but the viewpoint differs.

Vil gerne expresses desire politely

Vil gerne normally means “would like to,” not a straightforward future:

• Jeg vil gerne bestille et bord. — “I’d like to book a table.”
• Vil du gerne med? — “Would you like to come along?”

Similarly, vil ikke commonly expresses unwillingness: Barnet vil ikke sove means “The child doesn’t want to sleep” or “The child won’t sleep,” with a sense of refusal.

Skal nok can reassure or promise

Nok has several uses, but after skal it often marks a confident promise or reassurance:

• Jeg skal nok ringe. — “I’ll call, don’t worry.”
• Det skal nok gå. — “It’ll be all right.”

This is common in everyday speech. The meaning is not simply obligation; the speaker commits to the outcome or reassures the listener.

Future meaning in time and condition clauses

Danish often uses the present tense after words such as når (when) and hvis (if), just as English commonly does:

• Når du kommer, spiser vi. — “When you arrive, we’ll eat.”
• Hvis hun har tid, hjælper hun os. — “If she has time, she’ll help us.”

There is no need to insert vil merely because the event is in the future. Use it only if its predictive or volitional meaning is relevant.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Future seen from the past

When reporting what was future at an earlier time, Danish commonly uses the past modal forms ville and skulle:

• Han sagde, at han ville ringe senere. — “He said that he would call later.”
• Vi skulle mødes dagen efter. — “We were supposed/scheduled to meet the next day.”

As in the present, ville can involve intention or willingness, while skulle can indicate a plan, expectation, or obligation. The surrounding context determines the exact reading.

Looking back from a future point

To say that something will already be complete by a future deadline, Danish can use vil have or skal have plus a past participle (a form such as lavet, “done/made,” used in compound verb forms):

• Til december vil de have bygget huset færdigt. — “By December they will have finished building the house.”
• Rapporten skal være færdig inden fredag. — “The report must/is to be finished by Friday.”

In ordinary conversation, Danish often avoids a heavy future-perfect construction when a present perfect plus a clear time clause works naturally:

• Når du kommer, har jeg lavet mad. — “When you arrive, I’ll have made dinner.”

Be careful with kom til at in the past

Present kommer til at + infinitive often points forward, but past kom til at + infinitive frequently means that something happened unintentionally:

• Jeg kom til at slette filen. — “I accidentally deleted the file.”

This is not simply the past version of “was going to.” For an unfulfilled past intention, Danish can instead use skulle til at (“was about to”) or an appropriate construction with ville or skulle, depending on the meaning.

Predictions can be softened

Future statements often combine with adverbs that show how certain the speaker is:

• Det bliver måske dyrere. — “It may get more expensive.”
• Hun kommer sikkert til at forstå det. — “She’ll probably understand it.”
• Det vil sandsynligvis tage to dage. — “It will probably take two days.”

This lets Danish express degrees of confidence without changing to a special future tense.

Practice Tips

1. Sort future sentences by meaning. Take ten English sentences with “will” or “going to” and label each one as a schedule, personal plan, prediction, or expected consequence. Then choose the Danish present tense, skal, vil, or kommer til at.
2. Build four versions around one event. Compare Jeg rejser på fredag, Jeg skal rejse på fredag, Jeg vil rejse, and Jeg kommer til at rejse. Explain aloud what changes: settled arrangement, plan or necessity, desire, or expected outcome.
3. Practice time-first word order. Start sentences with i morgen, på fredag, næste år, and om en time. Check that the finite verb comes immediately after the opening time phrase: I morgen skal jeg…, not I morgen jeg skal….

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Modal Verbs — review how skal and vil combine with an infinitive without at.