fortælle

Fortælle is the Danish infinitive of the verb fortælle, meaning to tell, recount, or narrate. It covers giving information, recounting events, or presenting a story to another person, in speech or in writing.

In present tense the form is fortæller (he/she tells). The past tense is fortalte (told). The past participle/supine is fortalt (told). The passive voice is formed with blive fortalt, as in Dette bliver fortalt i historien (This is told in the story). The imperative form is fortæl (tell!).

Related forms include the noun fortælling, meaning a story or narrative, and the adjective fortællende, meaning narrative or telling. A fortæller can be a narrator or storyteller.

Etymology: the verb is of Germanic origin and is cognate with the English word tell and related forms in other North Germanic languages.

Usage: fortælle is common in literature, journalism, education, and everyday conversation. It is used when describing the act of conveying what happened, sharing information, or presenting a sequence of events from one person to another.