Temporal Conjunctions in Danish

In Brief

Danish normally uses da for “when” with one specific past event, but når for repeated situations, general truths, and future events: Da jeg kom hjem... (“When I came home...”) versus Når jeg kommer hjem... (“When I come home...” or “Whenever I come home...”). Other central time conjunctions are mens (“while”), før/inden (“before”), efter at (“after”), siden (“since”), and til/indtil (“until”). Because they introduce subordinate clauses, words such as ikke normally stand before the finite verb: før hun ikke længere bor her.

Overview

A temporal conjunction is a linking word that places one event in relation to another in time. It introduces a subordinate clause (a clause that depends on another clause): Da jeg kom hjem cannot normally stand alone, but it provides the time frame for ringede telefonen. This lets you connect events rather than list them as separate statements.

At B1, the main challenge is not memorizing the conjunctions. It is choosing the conjunction that expresses the intended time relationship and then using Danish subordinate-clause word order. English “when” covers several meanings that Danish often separates between da and når. English also allows a present form in many time clauses about the future, and Danish usually does the same: Når toget kommer, stiger vi på (“When the train arrives, we’ll get on”).

These conjunctions are common in stories, plans, instructions, explanations, and everyday conversation. They show whether events happen once or repeatedly, simultaneously or in sequence, and whether a situation continues up to a particular point.

How It Works

The main choices

Danish conjunction	Core meaning	Typical use
da	when	One specific occasion in the past
når	when, whenever	Repetition, general truths, or future situations
mens	while	Events or states overlapping in time
før	before	One event is earlier than another
inden	before, within/by	A deadline or the time before a limit is reached
efter at	after	One event follows a completed or earlier event
siden	since	A starting point in the past with relevance later, often continuing now
til / indtil	until	Continuation up to an endpoint

These are conjunctions when a full clause follows them: før du går, siden vi flyttede. Some of the same forms can also be prepositions, meaning that a noun rather than a clause follows: før mødet (“before the meeting”), siden mandag (“since Monday”), and indtil klokken fem (“until five o’clock”).

Da or når?

This is the central contrast.

Use da when looking back at one definite occasion:

• Da jeg så hende, smilede hun. — “When I saw her, she smiled.”
• Da strømmen gik, sad vi i køkkenet. — “When the power went out, we were sitting in the kitchen.”

Use når for something habitual or repeated, whether in the present or the past:

• Når jeg er træt, går jeg tidligt i seng. — “When I’m tired, I go to bed early.”
• Da jeg var barn, legede vi ude, når vejret var godt. — “When I was a child, we played outside whenever the weather was good.”

Use når for a future occasion, even if it will happen only once:

• Når du kommer i morgen, laver jeg kaffe. — “When you come tomorrow, I’ll make coffee.”

A useful test is to replace English “when” with “whenever.” If that still expresses the meaning, når is usually right. If you can point to one completed past occasion, choose da.

Do not confuse conjunction da with adverbial da, which can mean “then” in expressions such as Hvad gjorde du så da? The conjunction in this article begins a clause and means “when.”

Subordinate-clause word order

A temporal clause follows the normal pattern for Danish subordinate clauses:

conjunction + subject + sentence adverb + finite verb + the rest

A finite verb is the verb marked for tense, such as kommer, kom or har. A sentence adverb comments on the whole statement; common examples include ikke (“not”), aldrig (“never”), altid (“always”), and måske (“perhaps”).

Position	Conjunction	Subject	Adverb	Finite verb	Rest
Example	når	jeg	ikke	har	tid
Example	før	hun	måske	kommer	hjem
Example	mens	de	stadig	ventede	på bussen

Compare a main clause with a subordinate clause:

• Main clause: Jeg har ikke tid.
• Subordinate clause: når jeg ikke har tid

The negative ikke comes after the finite verb in the main clause but before it in the subordinate clause. English learners often overlook this because English word order does not signal the distinction in the same way.

What happens when the time clause comes first?

A temporal clause can stand before or after the main clause:

• Jeg ringer til dig, når jeg kommer hjem.
• Når jeg kommer hjem, ringer jeg til dig.

When the time clause comes first, it occupies the first position of the whole sentence. The following main clause therefore uses inversion: the finite verb comes before the subject, ringer jeg, not jeg ringer.

The pattern is:

time clause + finite verb + subject + rest

• Efter at mødet var slut, tog vi hjem.
• Inden du går, skal du slukke lyset.

Danish comma practice has changed over time, and both a system with a comma before subordinate clauses and one without it can be accepted if used consistently. A comma normally marks the end of an initial subordinate clause, as in the examples above. Follow the convention required by your school, workplace, or publisher rather than switching systems within one text.

Mens: events that overlap

Mens says that two situations occupy the same stretch of time. Both can be ongoing, or one event can occur during the other:

• Mens vi spiste, talte vi om ferien. — two activities in progress together
• Mens jeg ventede, begyndte det at sne. — a new event occurs during the wait

English “while” can also express contrast (“whereas”). Danish mens can do this too, but that is a logical contrast rather than a time relationship: Hun elsker byen, mens han foretrækker landet (“She loves the city, whereas he prefers the countryside”). Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Før and inden

Both før and inden can introduce a clause meaning “before”:

• Ring, før du tager af sted.
• Ring, inden du tager af sted.

They often overlap. Inden frequently suggests a boundary or deadline: something must happen before a particular point is reached. Før is the broad, neutral way to say that one event precedes another. With a time span, inden can mean “within”: Du får svar inden tre dage (“You’ll receive an answer within three days”).

Before a clause, use før du går or inden du går, not the English-shaped construction inden at du går. Inden itself can introduce the finite clause.

Efter at

Efter at introduces a clause whose event comes first:

• Efter at hun havde spist, gik hun en tur. — “After she had eaten, she went for a walk.”

The at belongs to the conjunction in careful neutral writing. In informal speech it may be omitted: efter hun var kommet hjem. As a learner, efter at is a reliable default before a full clause. Before a noun, use efter alone: efter mødet (“after the meeting”).

The pluperfect (havde spist, “had eaten”) makes the earlier event explicit, but it is not always required when the sequence is already clear: Efter at vi spiste, gik vi en tur.

Siden: a starting point

Siden gives the point from which a later or current situation is measured:

• Jeg har boet her, siden jeg begyndte på universitetet. — “I have lived here since I started university.”

Danish commonly uses the present perfect in the main clause for a situation that began in the past and still holds: har boet. The clause after siden normally names the starting event in the past: siden jeg flyttede hertil. English learners should notice that Danish, like English, distinguishes a starting point with “since” from a duration with “for”: i tre år means “for three years,” not siden tre år.

Til and indtil: an endpoint

Til and indtil mark the point at which a situation stops or changes:

• Vent, til jeg kommer tilbage. — “Wait until I come back.”
• Vi bliver her, indtil regnen stopper. — “We’ll stay here until the rain stops.”

Til is frequent and natural in everyday time clauses. Indtil makes the limiting endpoint especially clear. Before clock times and dates, both may occur in different constructions, but indtil is unambiguous for duration up to a limit: Butikken er lukket indtil mandag (“The shop is closed until Monday”).

As with når, Danish normally uses the present tense in a future time clause: til jeg kommer, not a future construction equivalent to “will come.”

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Da jeg kom hjem, ringede telefonen.	When I came home, the phone rang.	One specific past occasion: da
Når jeg er træt, går jeg i seng.	When I’m tired, I go to bed.	Repeated situation: når
Når vi ses på fredag, fortæller jeg dig det hele.	When we see each other on Friday, I’ll tell you everything.	Future event; Danish uses present forms
Da jeg var barn, besøgte vi mormor, når vi havde ferie.	When I was a child, we visited Grandma whenever we were on holiday.	da frames one past period; når marks repetition within it
Mens vi ventede, begyndte det at regne.	While we waited, it started to rain.	One event occurs during another
Hun lyttede til en podcast, mens hun lavede mad.	She listened to a podcast while she cooked.	Two simultaneous activities
Inden du går, skal du spise.	Before you leave, you should eat.	inden marks a boundary
Jeg tjekker døren, før jeg går i seng.	I check the door before I go to bed.	Neutral sequence with før
Efter at mødet var slut, tog de toget hjem.	After the meeting had ended, they took the train home.	Initial clause triggers tog de
Vi drak kaffe, efter at vi havde spist.	We drank coffee after we had eaten.	Pluperfect clarifies the earlier event
Hun har arbejdet hjemme, siden hun fik nyt job.	She has worked from home since she got a new job.	Past starting point, continuing situation
Bliv her, til jeg er færdig.	Stay here until I’m finished.	til introduces the endpoint
De fortsatte, indtil de ikke længere kunne se stien.	They continued until they could no longer see the path.	ikke precedes the finite verb kunne
Når bussen ikke kommer til tiden, tager jeg cyklen.	When the bus doesn’t arrive on time, I take my bike.	Subordinate order: ikke kommer

Common Mistakes

Using da for a future event

• Wrong: Da du kommer i morgen, spiser vi sammen.
• Right: Når du kommer i morgen, spiser vi sammen.
• Why: Da points to a specific event in the past. A future “when” clause takes når.

Using når for one completed past occasion

• Wrong: Når jeg åbnede døren i går, stod Peter der.
• Right: Da jeg åbnede døren i går, stod Peter der.
• Why: I går identifies one completed occasion. Use når only if the past event was repeated: Når jeg åbnede døren, stod hunden altid der.

Keeping main-clause word order after ikke

• Wrong: Jeg bliver hjemme, når jeg har ikke tid.
• Right: Jeg bliver hjemme, når jeg ikke har tid.
• Why: In a subordinate clause, a sentence adverb such as ikke normally comes before the finite verb.

Forgetting inversion after an initial time clause

• Wrong: Når jeg kommer hjem, jeg ringer til dig.
• Right: Når jeg kommer hjem, ringer jeg til dig.
• Why: The opening time clause fills the first position. The following main clause therefore begins with finite verb + subject.

Adding at after inden

• Wrong: Inden at du går, skal du lukke vinduet.
• Right: Inden du går, skal du lukke vinduet.
• Why: Inden directly introduces the clause. Do not copy the efter at pattern.

Confusing a starting point with a duration

• Wrong: Jeg har boet her siden tre år.
• Right: Jeg har boet her i tre år.
• Why: Siden introduces a starting point (siden 2023, siden jeg flyttede). Use i for a measured duration.

Usage Notes

Før is the most flexible neutral choice for “before.” Inden is especially useful in instructions, agreements, and deadlines because it highlights a limit: Betal inden den 1. august (“Pay by/before 1 August”). In ordinary clauses, however, the two often describe the same sequence.

Til in an “until” clause is very common in speech: Vent, til jeg kommer. Indtil is longer and can sound more explicit, especially when the endpoint matters. This is a tendency, not a strict formal-versus-informal division.

With future time clauses, Danish present tense often corresponds to English present tense even when the main clause has future meaning: Jeg ringer, når jeg ved mere (“I’ll call when I know more”). Danish can use vil when it expresses willingness, prediction, or insistence, but do not insert it automatically simply because the event lies in the future.

The position of the time clause changes emphasis. Ending with it often presents the main action first: Jeg ringer, når jeg kommer hjem. Putting it first establishes the time frame: Når jeg kommer hjem, ringer jeg. Both are natural; remember inversion only in the second pattern.

Beyond the Basics: Meaning, Tense, and Style

The basic da/når rule is highly reliable, but advanced texts sometimes require you to think about how the speaker views an event. Når can refer to repeated events in a past narrative, while da selects one occurrence. Compare:

• Når han kom for sent, sagde chefen altid noget. — each time he was late
• Da han kom for sent, sagde chefen noget. — on the particular occasion being narrated

The conjunction does more than locate the action in past time; it tells the listener whether to understand it as a pattern or an individual event.

With siden, the main clause need not describe an uninterrupted activity. It may describe a change that has remained valid: Hun har været mere rolig, siden hun skiftede job (“She has been calmer since she changed jobs”). In narrative writing about an entirely past period, tense can shift with the viewpoint: Han havde været alene, siden familien var rejst (“He had been alone since the family had left”).

Tense can also clarify sequence after før and efter at. Danish often relies on the conjunction itself, but the pluperfect emphasizes that one event was already complete:

• Efter at hun havde underskrevet kontrakten, ringede hun til sin familie.
• Hun havde aldrig set havet, før hun flyttede til Danmark.

Finally, several conjunctions also have non-temporal uses. Mens can mean “whereas,” and da can introduce a reason in more formal or written Danish, roughly “since/as”: Da alle var enige, afsluttede vi mødet can be understood as “Since everyone agreed, we ended the meeting.” Context and the relationship between the clauses determine the reading. Learners should first master the clear time uses before actively using these broader meanings.

Practice Tips

1. Sort “when” sentences into three groups. Write five English prompts for one past event, five for repetition, and five for the future. Translate them using da for the first group and når for the other two.
2. Build word-order pairs. Start with a main clause such as Jeg har ikke tid, then place it after a conjunction: når jeg ikke har tid. Repeat with aldrig, altid, and måske until the subordinate order feels automatic.
3. Retell a short routine and a short story. Use når, mens, and før for your routine; use da, mens, and efter at for one past event. This forces you to contrast habitual time with narrative time.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subordinate Clauses — explains the subordinate word order used after temporal conjunctions.