Købte

Købte is the simple past tense form of the Danish verb købe, which means to buy. It is used to describe purchases or buying actions that were completed in the past. In everyday use, forms include jeg købte, du købte, han/hun købte, vi købte, I købte, de købte.

In Danish, the past participle of købe is købt. This form is used with auxiliary verbs to form the perfect and pluperfect tenses, for example jeg har købt (I have bought) or jeg havde købt (I had bought). The past participle købt is also used in passive constructions, such as var købt or er blevet købt, meaning “was bought” or “has been bought.”

Købte is related to the noun køb, meaning purchase or bargain, and to verbs in other Scandinavian languages with similar meanings, such as Norwegian kjøpe and Swedish köpa. The word originates from the same Proto-Germanic root as these cognates, reflecting a common Germanic heritage for buying and selling terms.

Usage notes and distinctions: købe forms a standard verb paradigm in Danish, and købte serves as the narrative past. When speaking about completed purchases in the present perfect or past perfect, Danish typically uses har købt or havde købt rather than a compound with the simple past, so the distinction between købte and har købt is important for tense and aspect. In written Danish, købte remains common in past-tense constructions, especially in storytelling and journalism.