Bedeutung
Starting a journey or leaving a place.
Kultureller Hintergrund
The 'Doorstep Conversation': Danes often spend a long time saying goodbye at the door after announcing they must 'tage af sted'. It's considered polite to show you enjoyed the company. In Greenlandic Danish, 'at tage af sted' often refers to long boat trips or hunting expeditions where timing depends heavily on the weather. In Danish offices, 'at tage af sted' at 16:00 is standard and respected for work-life balance. No one feels guilty for 'taking off' to pick up kids. Younger Danes might replace 'tage af sted' with 'smutte' or 'skride' to sound more casual or urgent.
Use 'er' for the past
Always remember: 'Jeg ER taget af sted', never 'Jeg HAR taget af sted'.
Spelling variation
You will see 'afsted' and 'af sted'. Both are understood, but 'af sted' is the teacher's favorite.
Bedeutung
Starting a journey or leaving a place.
Use 'er' for the past
Always remember: 'Jeg ER taget af sted', never 'Jeg HAR taget af sted'.
Spelling variation
You will see 'afsted' and 'af sted'. Both are understood, but 'af sted' is the teacher's favorite.
The 'Hellere' trick
Danes often say 'Jeg må hellere tage af sted' (I'd better leave). It sounds more polite than just saying you're leaving.
Teste dich selbst
Fill in the correct form of 'tage' in the past tense.
Vi ___ af sted klokken syv i morges.
'I morges' (this morning) indicates the past tense, so 'tog' is required.
Which sentence is grammatically correct?
Choose the correct perfect tense construction:
Verbs of movement in Danish use 'være' (er) as the auxiliary verb.
Match the phrase to the situation.
You are leaving a friend's house and want to be polite.
'Tage af sted' is the natural, neutral way to announce departure.
Complete the dialogue.
A: Hvornår skal vi køre? B: Vi skal ___ af sted om fem minutter.
After 'skal' (modal verb), we use the infinitive form 'tage'.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Visuelle Lernhilfen
Aufgabensammlung
4 AufgabenVi ___ af sted klokken syv i morges.
'I morges' (this morning) indicates the past tense, so 'tog' is required.
Choose the correct perfect tense construction:
Verbs of movement in Danish use 'være' (er) as the auxiliary verb.
You are leaving a friend's house and want to be polite.
'Tage af sted' is the natural, neutral way to announce departure.
A: Hvornår skal vi køre? B: Vi skal ___ af sted om fem minutter.
After 'skal' (modal verb), we use the infinitive form 'tage'.
🎉 Ergebnis: /4
Häufig gestellte Fragen
10 FragenNot directly. You 'tage af sted' from a place. To leave a person, use 'at forlade' or 'at gå fra'.
Officially two words ('af sted'), but many Danes write it as one ('afsted').
'At gå' means to walk or to leave. 'At tage af sted' is specifically about the moment of departure for a journey or trip.
You say 'Jeg tog af sted'.
No, it's neutral. You can use it with your boss or your best friend.
Yes, 'Flyet tager af sted' is common, though 'Flyet letter' (The plane lifts) is more specific.
It means 'to get away' or 'to manage to leave', often implying it took some effort.
Yes, that's perfectly natural.
'At ankomme' (to arrive) or 'at blive' (to stay).
It softens the departure, making it sound like a necessity rather than a desire to leave the company.
Verwandte Redewendungen
at smutte
synonymTo head off / pop out
at afrejse
specialized formTo depart (formally)
at bryde op
similarTo break up a gathering
at komme af sted
builds onTo get going / manage to leave
