tilbage

Tilbage is a Danish adverb and particle meaning "back" or "back again." It signals movement toward a previous place or state, or reversal of an action. It is widely used in both spoken and written Danish and can stand alone in commands or statements, as in gå tilbage or kom tilbage. It also forms part of phrasal verbs and fixed expressions that express return or reversal, for example rulle tilbage (roll back), gå tilbage til begyndelsen (go back to the beginning), and komme tilbage senere (come back later).

In compounds, tilbage often functions as a bound element meaning "back" and appears in nouns such as tilbagebetaling (refund), tilbagekaldelse (recall or withdrawal), and tilbagegang (setback or decline). It also participates in adjectives and adverbial phrases, such as tilbageholden (restrained) and tilbagevendende (recurrent), where the sense of returning or repetition is present.

Notes: The opposite of tilbage is frem (forward) or forfra (from the start). Tilbage is common across registers, from casual speech to formal writing, and serves as a typical example of a Danish direction and aspect marker.