spørge

Spørge is a Danish verb meaning to ask. It is used to request information, clarification, or permission and appears in a variety of contexts involving questions or inquiries. The infinitive form is at spørge; in actual sentences the verb takes finite forms according to person and tense, with the base forms shown below.

Conjugation and forms: In present tense, forms include jeg spørger, du spørger, han/hun spørger, vi spørger, I spørger, de spørger. The simple past tense is jeg spurgte, du spurgte, han/hun spurgte, vi spurgte, I spurgte, de spurgte. The past participle is spurgt, used with have or had in perfect constructions (jeg har spurgt). The imperative form is Spørg! (singular) or Spørg dem! (plural). A present participle or the participial form spørgende exists but is relatively uncommon outside specific constructions.

Usage and derivations: Spørge is used with questions and indirect questions, often in combinations such as “spørge om noget” (to ask about something) or “stille et spørgsmål” (to pose a question). The noun form spørgsmål means “a question” (et spørgsmål). Related forms include spørgeord, which refers to interrogative words like who, what, where, and when. The verb has close cognates in other North Germanic languages, notably the Norwegian bokmål form spørre.

Examples: Jeg vil gerne spørge dig om noget. Kan jeg spørge dig om vejen? Jeg spurgte, hvornår toget kommer.

See also: Spørgsmål, spørre (Norwegian cognate). Spørgeord.