Køb

Køb is a Danish word with two primary uses: as a verb form and as a noun. As a verb, køb is the imperative of at købe, meaning “buy.” It is used to give a command, as in køb det now. In present tense the form is køber, as in jeg køber (I buy). The past tense is købte, and the past participle is købt, used in conjunction with have or had in perfect constructions (har købt).

As a noun, køb means a purchase or the act of buying. It can refer to a single purchase, as in et køb, or to the concept of buying in general. The phrase at lave et køb means to make a purchase, and et billigt køb denotes a cheap purchase. The noun is often found in commercial and consumer contexts, such as retail, marketing, and consumer advice.

Etymology and cognates: købe derives from Old Danish kaupa and from Proto-Germanic *kaupōną. Its cognates include Swedish köpa/köper and Norwegian kjøpe/kjøpe, with German historically related forms such as kaufen. The noun køb shares the same root as the verb.

Usage notes: In everyday language, køb appears in shopping, advertising, and transactional discourse, as well as in legal and contractual phrasing related to purchase agreements. The related noun køber refers to a buyer or customer. Capitalization is normally not used unless at the beginning of a sentence or in a title. The word contains the Danish vowel ø, a characteristic feature of Danish orthography.