The Present Participle
To describe an ongoing, active state, use the present participle (equivalent to English "-ing"). In Danish, this is usually formed by adding -nde to the infinitive.
- køre (to run/operate) becomes kørende (running)
- snurre (to whir) becomes snurrende (whirring)
- blinke (to flash) becomes blinkende (flashing)
Maintained States
To express that someone is actively keeping something in a specific state, Danish uses a structure identical to English: the verb have (to have) + an object + the present participle.
| The operator has the cooling system running while she works. | Operatøren har kølesystemet kørende mens hun arbejder. |
| We always have the fans whirring in the control room. | Vi har altid ventilatorerne snurrende i kontrolrummet. |
| The technician has the radar running on the large panel while he eats. | Teknikeren har radaren kørende på det store panel mens han spiser. |
Questions and Complex Sentences
You can ask questions about maintained states by inverting the subject and verb, or by starting with a question word.
| Why do they have an indicator flashing? | Hvorfor har de en indikator blinkende? |
| Do we have several indicators flashing in the control room? | Har vi adskillige indikatorer blinkende i kontrolrummet? |
This construction can also follow other verbs, such as lade (to let), to express allowing an ongoing process to continue.
| Do we really let the operator have the radar running? | Lader vi virkelig operatøren have radaren kørende? |
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