Present Participle in Swedish

In Brief

The Swedish present participle normally ends in -ande or -ende: tala → talande (“speaking”), le → leende (“smiling”). It is an unchanging form used mainly like an adjective, noun, or adverb, and in certain verb patterns such as komma springande (“come running”). It does not serve as a general equivalent of every English -ing form.

Overview

A participle is a form made from a verb but used partly like another word class. The Swedish present participle, called presens particip, can describe a noun (ett leende barn), name a person or group (de studerande), describe the manner or accompanying action of a verb (hon kom springande), or appear after a linking verb (det är förvånande). A noun names a person, thing, or idea; an adjective describes one; and an adverb tells us more about an action or description.

The name “present” can be misleading. The form does not itself place an event at the present time. Instead, it usually presents an action, state, or effect as ongoing or characteristic relative to the surrounding sentence. Thus de väntande passagerarna can refer to passengers who were waiting yesterday, are waiting now, or will be waiting tomorrow, depending on context.

At C1, the main challenge is not recognizing -ande/-ende, but choosing the form naturally. English uses -ing in many jobs that Swedish expresses with an infinitive, an att clause, a finite verb, or a construction with och. Swedish present participles are common in compounds, established adjectives, concise written descriptions, and a limited set of verb patterns. Overusing them can make ordinary Swedish sound compressed or translated.

How It Works

Forming the participle

For most verbs whose infinitive ends in unstressed -a, remove that final -a and add -ande. For other infinitives, including many short verbs ending in a stressed vowel, add -ende to the infinitive.

Infinitive	Formation	Present participle	Basic sense
tala	tal- + -ande	talande	speaking
läsa	läs- + -ande	läsande	reading
springa	spring- + -ande	springande	running
studera	studer- + -ande	studerande	studying; student
bo	bo + -ende	boende	living; resident
gå	gå + -ende	gående	walking; in progress
le	le + -ende	leende	smiling; smile
se	se + -ende	seende	seeing; sighted

This is best learned from the infinitive, not from the present-tense form. For example, läser is the present tense, but the participle is läsande, not läserande. Likewise, går gives no direct model for gående; begin from gå.

A few very frequent forms are so established that learners often meet them as vocabulary before analyzing them as participles: pågående (“ongoing”), kommande (“coming; forthcoming”), nuvarande (“current”), levande (“living; alive”), and beroende (“dependent; depending”). Their meanings may be broader or more specialized than a word-for-word translation of the base verb suggests.

The form does not agree

Unlike an ordinary Swedish adjective, a present participle does not change for an en noun, an ett noun, or a plural noun. This is called being indeclinable, meaning that the ending stays the same.

Noun type	Example	English
en noun	en talande fågel	a talking bird
ett noun	ett leende barn	a smiling child
plural	leende barn	smiling children
definite plural	de väntande resenärerna	the waiting travelers

Do not add ordinary adjective endings such as -t or -a: ett leende barn, not ett leendet barn; de väntande gästerna, not de väntanda gästerna. The noun itself still takes the normal marking required by the phrase.

Before a noun: an adjectival use

A present participle can stand before a noun and describe an active, ongoing, characteristic, or resulting quality:

• en sovande hund — a sleeping dog
• ett växande problem — a growing problem
• ökande kostnader — rising costs
• en övertygande förklaring — a convincing explanation

Some forms remain closely connected to an action: en sovande hund is a dog that is sleeping. Others have become established adjectives: spännande normally means “exciting,” förvånande means “surprising,” and avgörande means “decisive” or “crucial.” In such words, the lexical meaning matters more than mechanically recovering the verb.

After a linking verb: a property or assessment

A linking verb connects the subject with a description rather than expressing a separate action. Present participles often occur after vara (“be”), but the result may be an established adjective rather than a live progressive construction:

• Filmen är spännande. — “The film is exciting.”
• Resultatet var förvånande. — “The result was surprising.”
• Frågan är avgörande. — “The issue is crucial.”

English “is reading” and Swedish är läsande are not normally equivalent. Swedish does not generally build a continuous tense from vara plus the present participle. Use the ordinary present tense, hon läser, or a suitable idiomatic construction.

With another verb: accompanying action or resulting position

The participle can describe how someone arrives, leaves, moves, or remains. Frequent patterns include komma springande (“come running”), gå visslande (“walk along whistling”), bli stående (“be left/remain standing”), and sitta/ligga/stå plus a participle. These patterns are real, but they vary in frequency and style.

• Barnet kom springande mot oss. — The child came running toward us.
• Han blev stående i dörren. — He remained standing in the doorway.
• Hon gick leende därifrån. — She walked away smiling.
• Han satt läsande. — He sat reading.

The last example is grammatically possible, but everyday Swedish more often says Han satt och läste. With posture verbs such as sitta, stå, and ligga, och + finite verb is usually the neutral conversational choice: Hon sitter och arbetar (“She is sitting working / She is working”). The participle can sound more descriptive, literary, or compressed.

Used as a noun

A participle can refer to a person associated with the action. This is a nominal use, meaning that the form functions as a noun:

• en studerande — a student
• en sökande — an applicant
• de resande — the travelers
• boende i området — residents in the area / people living in the area

The participle itself remains unchanged, but articles and surrounding words show number and definiteness. Context determines whether boende means the activity or situation of living/accommodation, or the people who live somewhere.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
En talande fågel väckte stor uppmärksamhet.	A talking bird attracted a lot of attention.	Active description before an en noun
Leende barn sprang ut på gården.	Smiling children ran out into the yard.	The form stays unchanged in the plural
Han satt läsande vid fönstret.	He sat reading by the window.	Correct but more descriptive than neutral conversation
Det är förvånande att ingen reagerade.	It is surprising that nobody reacted.	Established evaluative adjective
Vi behöver hitta en långsiktigt hållbar lösning på det växande problemet.	We need to find a sustainable long-term solution to the growing problem.	Common abstract use in formal prose
Barnen kom springande när de hörde glassbilen.	The children came running when they heard the ice-cream truck.	Frequent motion-verb pattern
Hon gick leende därifrån.	She walked away smiling.	The participle describes manner or accompanying action
Jag blev stående utanför den låsta dörren.	I was left standing outside the locked door.	bli stående expresses a resulting, continuing position
De väntande passagerarna fick ny information.	The waiting passengers received new information.	Adjectival use before a definite plural noun
Antalet sökande har ökat i år.	The number of applicants has increased this year.	Nominal use referring to people
De boende motsatte sig förslaget.	The residents opposed the proposal.	Common nominalized form
Mötet pågår, och ett beslut väntas under den kommande veckan.	The meeting is in progress, and a decision is expected during the coming week.	Lexicalized kommande
Rapporten ger en övertygande bild av utvecklingen.	The report gives a convincing picture of the trend.	Established adjective with a less literal meaning
Pågående arbete får inte störas.	Work in progress must not be disturbed.	Compact wording typical of notices and formal contexts

Common Mistakes

Building a continuous tense with vara

• Wrong: Hon är läsande en bok.
• Right: Hon läser en bok. / Hon sitter och läser en bok.
• Why: Swedish does not normally use vara + present participle as a general equivalent of English “be + -ing.” The simple present is often enough; sitter och läser emphasizes an activity in progress.

Choosing the ending from the present tense

• Wrong: Han kom springerande mot mig.
• Right: Han kom springande mot mig.
• Why: Form the participle from the infinitive springa: remove -a and add -ande. Do not attach the ending to springer.

Making the participle agree like an adjective

• Wrong: ett leendet barn / de väntanda gästerna
• Right: ett leende barn / de väntande gästerna
• Why: Present participles are indeclinable. Their -ande/-ende form does not change for gender, number, or definiteness.

Translating every English -ing form directly

• Wrong: Simmande är roligt.
• Right: Att simma är roligt.
• Why: When English uses an -ing form as the name of an activity, Swedish commonly uses att + infinitive. Here att simma means “swimming” as an activity.

Using a compressed participle where a clause is clearer

• Awkward in ordinary speech: Mannen stående vid dörren är min chef.
• Natural: Mannen som står vid dörren är min chef.
• Why: A relative clause with som (“who/that”) is often clearer and more idiomatic than a heavy participial phrase, especially in conversation.

Usage Notes

Present participles are especially visible in news, reports, instructions, advertisements, and administrative language because they package information compactly: ökande priser, gällande regler, kommande förändringar, berörda—though that last example is a past participle—and pågående förhandlingar. This density can be useful, but several participles in one sentence may make prose feel bureaucratic.

Spoken Swedish strongly favors finite clauses and coordination where English may favor -ing. English “She sat reading” can be Hon satt och läste; “I saw him crossing the street” is naturally Jag såg honom när han gick över gatan or, depending on meaning, Jag såg honom gå över gatan. The best Swedish structure depends on whether you are describing duration, perception, manner, or two simultaneous actions.

Pay attention to pronunciation and spelling as vocabulary, particularly with forms that are no longer transparently literal. Leende can be both “smiling” and the noun “smile”; boende can refer to living/accommodation or residents; beroende can mean “dependent,” “depending,” or “addiction/dependency” in nominal contexts. Articles, prepositions, and sentence position reveal the intended function.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

Participles can retain verbal meaning

A present participle may keep features of its underlying verb, including a complement (a word or phrase required to complete the verb’s meaning) or an adverbial modifier:

• en ständigt växande marknad — a constantly growing market
• personer boende utomlands — people living abroad
• en förare talande i telefon — a driver talking on the phone

Longer post-noun participial phrases such as personer boende utomlands occur in formal or compressed styles. In neutral prose, personer som bor utomlands is often smoother. The choice is stylistic, not merely grammatical.

Compounds are highly productive

Swedish often combines another element with a participle: svensktalande (“Swedish-speaking”), ensamstående (“single,” especially a parent or person living without a partner), välfungerande (“well-functioning”), självförsörjande (“self-supporting”), and långtgående (“far-reaching”). The first element narrows or modifies the action or property.

These compounds are usually written as one word. Do not assume that an English open phrase should remain open in Swedish: “English-speaking countries” is engelsktalande länder. As always, the participial ending itself does not agree.

Time comes from the surrounding clause

Compare:

• De väntande gästerna får snart komma in. — The waiting guests will soon be allowed in.
• De väntande gästerna fick till slut komma in. — The waiting guests were finally allowed in.

Väntande has the same form in both sentences. The finite verbs får and fick, together with the time expressions, locate the situations in time. The participle describes the guests’ concurrent state.

Present participle versus past participle

The present participle usually gives an active or ongoing perspective: en kokande gryta is a pot that is boiling. A past participle commonly presents something as affected or completed: kokt potatis is boiled potato. Unlike the present participle, the Swedish past participle often changes form to agree with the noun. This active–affected contrast is a useful starting point, though lexicalized adjectives can develop meanings that are less literal.

Practice Tips

1. Build forms from infinitives. Make two columns: verbs ending in unstressed -a (tala → talande) and other verbs (bo → boende). Add common lexicalized forms such as pågående and kommande as whole vocabulary items.
2. Rewrite in both directions. Change Barnet kom springande into a fuller clause, and change de personer som bor här into de boende. This trains you to notice when a participle is concise and when a clause sounds more natural.
3. Collect real combinations, not isolated endings. From Swedish news or podcasts, record complete phrases such as ökande kostnader, sitta och arbeta, and bli stående. Mark whether each belongs mainly to speech, neutral writing, or formal writing.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Verb Groups) — knowing Swedish infinitives and basic verb forms makes the -ande/-ende formation easier to recognize.