Future Tense — Danish Verbs

At a glance: which one when?

Start from what you mean, not from the English word will.

You mean	Use	Danish	English
The everyday future, with a time word	present tense	Jeg kommer i morgen.	I'll come tomorrow.
An arrangement already made (booked, agreed)	skal	Vi skal flytte næste måned.	We're moving next month.
What someone wants or intends	vil	Jeg vil bare slappe af i aften.	I just want to relax tonight.
A prediction	kommer til at	Det kommer til at regne i morgen.	It's going to rain tomorrow.
What something will be like	bliver	Det bliver koldt i morgen.	It will be cold tomorrow.
A promise	skal nok	Det skal jeg nok gøre.	I'll do that, don't worry.
Something about to happen	skal til at	Vi skal til at spise.	We're about to eat.

The present tense + a time word

This is the everyday way to talk about the future. The verb is in the normal present tense, and a time word says when. Often the context is enough, and there is no time word at all.

Danish	English
Vi spiser ude i aften.	We're eating out tonight.
Filmen starter om lidt.	The film starts in a moment.
Jeg sender dig en e-mail i morgen.	I'll send you an email tomorrow.
Vi holder fest på lørdag.	We're having a party on Saturday.
Hvornår kommer du hjem?	When are you coming home?

Time words for the future

Danish	English
om lidt	in a moment
snart	soon
i aften	tonight, this evening
i morgen	tomorrow
i overmorgen	the day after tomorrow
på lørdag	on Saturday (this coming one)
i næste uge	next week
til sommer	this coming summer

Present tense

skal: plans and arrangements

Use skal + infinitive for something that is planned or already arranged, like English I’m going to or I’m ...ing. It is also how Danes ask about someone’s plans.

Danish	English
Vi skal på ferie i næste uge.	We're going on holiday next week.
Jeg skal til tandlæge i morgen.	I'm going to the dentist tomorrow.
Hvad skal du lave i aften?	What are you doing tonight?
Vi skal til Odense på lørdag.	We're going to Odense on Saturday.

When the sentence says where you are going, the verb of movement is usually left out: Vi skal på ferie, Vi skal til Odense. Skal and vil without a second verb

Danish	English	Use
Det skal nok gå.	It'll be fine.	skal nok: a promise or reassurance
Jeg skal nok huske det.	I'll remember it, I promise.	skal nok: a promise
Vi skal lige til at gå.	We're just about to leave.	skal til at: about to

vil: what someone wants or intends

Danish vil looks like English will, but with a person as the subject it usually means want to or intend to. For a neutral “I’ll call you tomorrow”, the present tense is the everyday choice: Jeg ringer til dig i morgen.

Danish	English	Use
Vi vil male stuen til foråret.	We want to paint the living room this spring.	intention
Jeg vil gerne lære at spille guitar.	I'd like to learn to play the guitar.	wish
Priserne vil stige i det nye år.	Prices will rise in the new year.	about things: a plain future

With a thing as the subject, vil can also be a plain future, as in the last example. It's most common in news and formal Danish; in speech, bliver or kommer til at is more usual.

kommer til at: what is going to happen

Use kommer til at + infinitive to predict something, often something nobody is planning or controlling. Don’t forget the at.

Danish	English
Du kommer til at elske Aarhus.	You're going to love Aarhus.
Vi kommer til at savne dig.	We're going to miss you.
Det kommer til at tage lang tid.	It's going to take a long time.

bliver: will be

To say what something will be like, Danes usually use the present tense of blive (become): Det bliver koldt i morgen.

Danish	English
Vejret bliver bedre i morgen.	The weather will be better tomorrow.
Vi tror, at det bliver godt.	We think it will be good.

Future or modal verb?

Skal and vil are modal verbs, so they keep their other meanings too. Jeg skal arbejde i morgen can mean “I’m working tomorrow” or “I have to work tomorrow”, and the context decides. Vil du med? asks if someone wants to come along. Modal verbs

Word order after a time word

When the sentence starts with the time word, the verb comes second, before the subject: I aften spiser vi ude, not I aften vi spiser ude. With skal, it is skal that comes second: I næste uge skal vi på ferie. The V2 rule

Common mistakes

Wrong:~~Det kommer til regne i morgen.~~
Right:Det kommer til at regne i morgen.
Kommer til needs at before the infinitive.
Wrong:~~Vi skal at flytte næste måned.~~
Right:Vi skal flytte næste måned.
No at after skal: modal verbs take the bare infinitive.
Wrong:~~I aften vi spiser ude.~~
Right:I aften spiser vi ude.
After a time word, the verb comes second.

Check yourself

6 questions

1. “We're going on holiday next week.” (It's booked.)

2. “The trip is going to cost a lot.”

3. “Will you be home tonight?”

4. “I'll be thirty next year.”

5. “Tomorrow we're going to the cinema.”

6. “Sorry, I accidentally deleted the file.”

Want more?

Danish Future Tense: skal, vil and kommer til at