The Swedish present participle ends in -ande or -ende — springande (running), leende (smiling), växande (growing). It looks like the English -ing form and is even built the same way, which makes it dangerously inviting to misuse. The single most important thing to learn here is what it is not: it is not how Swedish says "I am reading." Swedish has no progressive tense formed from the participle. The form exists only to do three jobs — describe a noun (adjective), describe a verb (adverb), or stand in as a noun itself. Get that boundary right and the rest is mechanical.
Formation: -ande for most, -ende for vowel/short stems
Take the verb stem and add the ending.
- -ande for the great majority of verbs (those whose stem ends in a consonant or in the infinitive -a): springa → springande, läsa → läsande, växa → växande, flyga → flygande.
- -ende for verbs whose stem ends in a long stressed vowel (the short Group 3 verbs and a few others): le → leende, bo → boende, gå → gående, stå → stående, se → seende.
| Verb | Present participle | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| springa (run) | springande | -ande |
| växa (grow) | växande | -ande |
| le (smile) | leende | -ende (vowel stem) |
| gå (walk/go) | gående | -ende (vowel stem) |
| stå (stand) | stående | -ende (vowel stem) |
It is invariable
This is the easy part — and a relief after the past participle, which agrees in three forms. The present participle never changes. Whether the noun is common gender, neuter, singular or plural, the form is identical:
En leende flicka, ett leende barn och tre leende gäster.
A smiling girl, a smiling child and three smiling guests. leende stays leende throughout — no agreement at all.
Det är ett växande problem och växande kostnader oroar styrelsen.
It's a growing problem and growing costs worry the board. växande with both an ett-word and a plural — unchanged.
So while the past participle (målad / målat / målade) forces you to track gender and number, the present participle asks nothing of you beyond picking -ande or -ende.
Use 1: as an attributive adjective
In front of a noun, it describes an ongoing or characteristic action: ett växande problem (a growing problem), en ledande politiker (a leading politician), rinnande vatten (running water).
Bristen på rinnande vatten är fortfarande ett växande problem i regionen.
The lack of running water is still a growing problem in the region. rinnande and växande both attributive, both invariable.
Hon är en ledande forskare inom området.
She is a leading researcher in the field. ledande = 'leading', a present participle used as an adjective.
Use 2: adverbially, with a verb of motion or posture
This use has no neat English equivalent. With verbs like komma (come), gå (go), bli (remain/become), the participle says how the subject moves or stays — typically translating English "came running," "stayed standing," "go around doing X."
Han kom springande in i köket och ropade att bussen var här.
He came running into the kitchen shouting that the bus was here. kom springande = 'came running' — the participle is adverbial.
Barnen blev stående i regnet och vågade inte gå hem.
The children remained standing in the rain and didn't dare go home. blev stående = 'remained standing'.
Hon gick gråtande från mötet.
She walked out of the meeting crying. gick gråtande = 'walked... crying'.
Use 3: as a noun
The participle can be nominalized — used as a noun for the person or people doing the action. These behave like nouns and take normal determiners and plurals. The most common are en studerande (a student), de närvarande (those present), en resande (a traveller), de anställda-style group nouns.
En studerande får rabatt, men de närvarande gästerna betalade fullt pris.
A student gets a discount, but the guests present paid full price. en studerande (nominal singular), de närvarande (nominal plural).
Antalet resande ökar varje sommar.
The number of travellers increases every summer. resande used as a noun.
The core trap: it is NOT a progressive tense
Here is the error that English speakers make again and again. English builds its continuous tenses out of the -ing form: I am reading, she was running. The instinct is to copy this into Swedish with the participle — and it is wrong. There is no jag är läsande meaning "I am reading."
Swedish has no dedicated progressive tense. To say "I am reading," you use:
- the plain present: Jag läser ("I read" / "I am reading" — context decides), or
- a posture/position verb construction with och: Jag sitter och läser (literally "I sit and read"), Hon står och lagar mat ("she is cooking," lit. "stands and cooks"), or
- hålla på att / med att: Jag håller på att läsa ("I am in the middle of reading").
These alternatives get their own page — see Continuous Tense Alternatives. The point here is purely negative: do not reach for the present participle to express it.
Jag sitter och läser, ring tillbaka om en timme.
I'm reading, call back in an hour. The continuous sense comes from 'sitter och läser', NOT a participle.
Vad gör du? — Jag lagar mat.
What are you doing? — I'm cooking. Plain present 'lagar' covers the English continuous; no participle in sight.
Common Mistakes
❌ Jag är läsande en bok.
Incorrect — Swedish has no progressive built from the participle. This is the single most common transfer error.
✅ Jag läser en bok. / Jag sitter och läser en bok.
I'm reading a book.
❌ ett växandet problem
Incorrect — the present participle never inflects; you can't add a neuter or definite ending to it.
✅ ett växande problem
A growing problem — växande is invariable.
❌ en leandes flicka
Incorrect — no genitive -s or extra ending on the participle in this attributive use.
✅ en leende flicka
A smiling girl.
❌ Han kom springa in.
Incorrect — the adverbial 'how he came' needs the participle, not the bare infinitive.
✅ Han kom springande in.
He came running in.
❌ Hon var gående till jobbet.
Incorrect — not a progressive. Use the plain past or 'var på väg'.
✅ Hon gick till jobbet. / Hon var på väg till jobbet.
She was walking to work / on her way to work.
Key Takeaways
- Form it with -ande (most verbs) or -ende (vowel-final monosyllabic stems: gående, leende).
- It is invariable — no en/ett/plural agreement, ever.
- Three uses: attributive (ett växande problem), adverbial (kom springande), nominal (en studerande, de närvarande).
- It does not form continuous tenses. "I am reading" is jag läser or jag sitter och läser — never jag är läsande.
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Start learning Swedish→Related Topics
- Participles as AdjectivesB2 — How Swedish present participles in -ande/-ende (en leende flicka — invariable) and past participles (en målad vägg, ett målat hus, de målade väggarna — fully agreeing) behave when used as adjectives, including the strong past participle in -en/-et/-na that links straight back to the verb system.
- Expressing Ongoing Actions (håller på att, sitter och)B1 — Swedish has no continuous tense — no equivalent of 'am reading'. The plain present does the job by default (Jag läser). For an action actively in progress it uses håller på att, and for an action ongoing in a bodily posture it uses the distinctive posture-verb + och construction (sitter och läser, står och väntar) — a genuine aspectual device with no English parallel.
- Deverbal Nouns (-ning, -ande, -nad)B2 — Turning verbs into nouns. -ning names the action or its result (en betalning, en förändring) and is the most productive; -nad gives a few concrete results (en byggnad); and -ande/-ende is the strange one — the very same form is simultaneously a present participle, an adjective, AND a noun (ett leende = 'a smile', leende = 'smiling'). One form, three jobs.