Infinitive with at in Danish

In Brief

Danish normally uses at before an infinitive (the basic verb form) in patterns such as at spise “to eat,” prøver at forstå “tries to understand,” and det er godt at vide “it is good to know.” After a modal verb such as kan, vil, skal, må, or bør, leave at out: Jeg kan svømme “I can swim.”

Overview

An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, without tense or a person attached to it. Examples are spise “eat,” løbe “run,” and forstå “understand.” In many Danish constructions, the infinitive comes after the marker at: at spise, at løbe, at forstå. This resembles English to before a verb, so English-speaking learners have a useful starting point.

You meet this pattern early at A1 because it lets you connect one action or description to another: trying to understand, beginning to run, or finding something difficult to explain. The first verb carries the tense: Hun begynder at løbe “She begins to run,” while Hun begyndte at løbe means “She began to run.” The infinitive løbe stays unchanged.

The Danish and English patterns overlap, but not perfectly. Both languages omit the marker after core modal verbs: compare kan svømme with “can swim.” Elsewhere, English may use either a “to” infinitive or an -ing form where Danish uses at + infinitive. It is therefore better to learn whole Danish patterns—begynde at, pleje at, have lyst til at—rather than translate every English to mechanically.

How It Works

Build the basic at + infinitive phrase

Put at directly before the infinitive:

Danish	English	Note
at spise	to eat	spise is the infinitive.
at læse	to read	No present-tense -r.
at komme	to come	The form is unchanged after at.
at være	to be	A common irregular verb.

The finite verb (the verb marked for tense) comes earlier in the sentence. The infinitive does not change when the subject—the person or thing doing the action—changes.

Danish	English	What changes?
Jeg prøver at læse.	I try to read.	prøver is present tense.
Hun prøvede at læse.	She tried to read.	prøvede is past tense.
Vi prøver at læse.	We try to read.	læse remains the same.

This gives a useful form test. Present-tense Danish verbs often end in -r, as in læser, løber, and forstår. After at, use læse, løbe, and forstå, not the present-tense forms.

Learn which verbs take at

A verb that is completed by another action is often followed by at + infinitive. The choice belongs to the first verb, so learn the two words together.

Pattern	Usual meaning
prøve at / forsøge at	try to
begynde at	begin to
lære at	learn to
glemme at	forget to
love at	promise to
håbe at	hope to
ønske at	wish to
pleje at	usually do; be in the habit of doing

Pleje at deserves special attention. Here plejer does not mean “please”; the phrase describes a habit: Jeg plejer at cykle på arbejde means “I usually cycle to work.”

English may translate the same Danish structure in more than one way. Hun elsker at danse can be “She loves to dance” or “She loves dancing.” The Danish grammar does not change because English chooses an -ing form.

Use at after impersonal descriptions

A very productive pattern is det er + adjective + at + infinitive. An adjective is a describing word such as “easy,” “important,” or “pleasant.” The pronoun det introduces the evaluation, and the infinitive says what is easy, important, or pleasant.

Danish	English	Pattern
Det er nemt at finde stationen.	It is easy to find the station.	nemt at
Det er vigtigt at lytte.	It is important to listen.	vigtigt at
Det er rart at være hjemme.	It is nice to be at home.	rart at
Det er svært at forklare.	It is difficult to explain.	svært at

Keep the preposition in longer expressions

Some common expressions contain a preposition before at. A preposition is a short linking word such as “to,” “for,” or “with.” In these phrases, the preposition is part of the expression and cannot simply be dropped.

Danish pattern	Natural English equivalent
have lyst til at	feel like; want to
have tid til at	have time to
være klar til at	be ready to
have brug for at	need to
være god til at	be good at

For example, Har du lyst til at gå en tur? means “Do you feel like going for a walk?” Learn lyst til at as one unit rather than trying to choose each small word separately.

Leave at out after modal verbs

A modal verb is a helping verb that expresses ability, intention, necessity, permission, or advice. The core Danish modals take the infinitive without at.

Modal	Typical meaning	Pattern
kan	can; be able to	kan svømme
vil	will; want to	vil rejse
skal	will; be going to; must	skal arbejde
må	may; must	må vente
bør	should	bør ringe

The infinitive without at is sometimes called a bare infinitive. Compare Jeg forsøger at forstå “I try to understand” with Jeg kan forstå “I can understand.” The form forstå is the same; only the presence of at changes.

Longer verb chains can contain both patterns:

Hun vil lære at køre bil. — She wants to learn to drive.

There is no at after modal vil, but lære takes at before the next action: lære at køre.

Distinguish infinitive at from “that” at

Danish at also works as a conjunction (a word that joins clauses) meaning “that.” A clause is a group of words with its own subject and tense-bearing verb.

Danish	English	Function of at
Hun prøver at komme.	She tries to come.	Marker before infinitive komme.
Hun siger, at Peter kommer.	She says that Peter is coming.	Conjunction before the clause Peter kommer.

Look immediately after at. If the next element is a basic verb form, at is likely an infinitive marker. If a new subject and a finite verb follow, at means “that.” Danish comma conventions can affect whether a comma is written before a subordinate clause, but they do not change this grammatical difference.

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg forsøger at forstå.	I try to understand.	forsøger at + infinitive.
Det er godt at vide.	It is good to know.	Description with det er … at.
Hun begynder at løbe.	She starts to run.	begynder at + infinitive.
Vi plejer at spise kl. 18.	We usually eat at 6 p.m.	plejer at describes a habit.
Jeg glemte at købe mælk.	I forgot to buy milk.	The main verb is in the past.
Han lover at ringe i morgen.	He promises to call tomorrow.	lover at + infinitive.
Det er svært at høre forskellen.	It is difficult to hear the difference.	Adjective pattern.
Er I klar til at bestille?	Are you ready to order?	Fixed phrase klar til at.
Hun har lyst til at gå en tur.	She feels like going for a walk.	Keep til in the phrase.
Jeg kan ikke finde mine nøgler.	I cannot find my keys.	No at after kan.
Vi skal mødes ved stationen.	We are going to meet at the station.	No at after skal.
Du bør tale med din læge.	You should speak to your doctor.	No at after bør.
De håber at finde en lejlighed.	They hope to find an apartment.	håber at + infinitive.
Hun vil gerne lære at danse.	She would like to learn to dance.	Bare infinitive after vil; at after lære.
Jeg ved, at bussen kommer snart.	I know that the bus is coming soon.	This at means “that.”

Common Mistakes

Adding at after a modal

• Wrong: Jeg kan at svømme.
• Right: Jeg kan svømme.
• Why: Kan takes a bare infinitive. The same beginner rule applies after vil, skal, må, and bør.

Keeping the present-tense ending after at

• Wrong: Hun begynder at løber.
• Right: Hun begynder at løbe.
• Why: Only begynder carries present tense. After at, use the infinitive løbe, without the present-tense -r.

Dropping part of a fixed expression

• Wrong: Vi har ikke tid at vente.
• Right: Vi har ikke tid til at vente.
• Why: The complete pattern is have tid til at. Likewise, learn have lyst til at and være klar til at as complete chunks.

Translating every English to as at

• Wrong: Jeg tog toget at spare tid.
• Right: Jeg tog toget for at spare tid.
• Why: Here “to” expresses a purpose: why you took the train. Danish normally uses for at, meaning “in order to,” for this relationship.

Confusing at and og in writing

• Wrong: Jeg prøver og forstå.
• Right: Jeg prøver at forstå.
• Why: Unstressed at can sound reduced in speech, which encourages this spelling error. At marks the infinitive; og means “and.” Write the grammatical word the sentence requires.

Using at in the wrong link of a verb chain

• Wrong: Hun vil at lære danse.
• Right: Hun vil lære at danse.
• Why: There is no at after modal vil. The verb lære, however, is followed by at danse when the learned skill is an action.

Usage Notes

At + infinitive is neutral and extremely common in both conversation and writing. The marker may be pronounced very lightly in connected speech. Do not take its weak pronunciation as evidence that it can be omitted in standard writing.

Danish dictionaries and vocabulary lists may show a verb as spise or as at spise. The word at is not part of the verb stem; it marks how the infinitive is being used. This is why it disappears after a modal even though the verb is still an infinitive: at spise, but kan spise.

English is not a reliable word-for-word guide. Danish at can correspond to English “to” (begynder at regne “begins to rain”) or to an -ing construction (elsker at læse “loves reading”). Conversely, an English purpose infinitive often needs for at in Danish. Focus on the Danish expression and the relationship between the actions.

There can also be a meaning difference between an infinitive and a full clause. In Hun lovede at komme “She promised to come,” the understood person coming is normally the person who made the promise. If someone else will come, Danish can use a full clause: Hun lovede, at Peter ville komme “She promised that Peter would come.”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to produce all of the following patterns at A1, but recognising them will make later Danish much easier.

Purpose and preposition-based constructions

For at introduces a purpose: Jeg ringede for at bestille et bord “I called to book a table.” Several other combinations connect an action to ideas such as absence, means, or alternatives:

Danish	English	Relationship
Han gik uden at sige farvel.	He left without saying goodbye.	uden at = without doing.
Man lærer ved at øve sig.	You learn by practising.	ved at = by doing.
I stedet for at køre tog vi toget.	Instead of driving, we took the train.	i stedet for at = instead of doing.
Jeg kom for at hjælpe.	I came in order to help.	for at = purpose.

These combinations are larger grammatical units. Their English translations often use -ing, even though Danish keeps an infinitive after at.

Other bare infinitives

Modal verbs are the essential beginner group, but they are not the only environment in which an infinitive can appear without at. Danish also has patterns such as lade ham gå “let him go,” se børnene lege “see the children play,” and høre hende synge “hear her sing.” Verbs such as turde “dare” and gide “feel willing/bother” also commonly behave like modals: Jeg tør ikke spørge “I do not dare ask.” Learn these as later, specific patterns rather than weakening the reliable A1 modal rule.

Some semi-modal uses allow variation. For example, forms of behøve may occur with or without at, depending on construction and style. When you encounter such a verb, check its complete pattern in a good dictionary instead of assuming that every infinitive follows one universal rule.

Perfect and passive infinitives

An infinitive phrase can refer back to an earlier action with at have + past participle. A past participle is a verb form used in completed constructions, such as spist “eaten”:

Hun ser ud til at have glemt aftalen. — She appears to have forgotten the appointment.

It can also be passive, meaning that the subject receives the action rather than performs it:

Rapporten skal afleveres i morgen. — The report must be submitted tomorrow.

Passive infinitive patterns include at blive set “to be seen” and, with many verbs, an -s form such as at læses “to be read.” These belong to later work on infinitive constructions and the passive; the key point here is that an infinitive can be more than a single word.

Practice Tips

1. Sort verbs by their partner pattern. Make one column for prøver at, begynder at, plejer at, and lærer at, and another for kan, vil, skal, må, and bør. Add one personal sentence for each item.
2. Use the -r check. In a sentence such as Hun prøver at læse, underline the tense-bearing verb and circle the infinitive. If the verb after at incorrectly ends in present-tense -r, repair it.
3. Listen and then verify in writing. When Danish speech makes at hard to hear, write down the whole phrase and ask what controls the next verb. This trains you to distinguish at from og and to notice where modal verbs require no marker.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — compare tense-bearing forms such as spiser with the infinitive spise.
• Next step: Infinitive Constructions — develop this foundation through purpose phrases and patterns such as for at, uden at, and i stedet for at.