When you want to describe a persistent, ongoing activity—especially background noises, annoying habits, or public disturbances—you can turn a Danish verb directly into a noun.
You do this by adding -n to the infinitive form of the verb (which almost always ends in -e), resulting in a noun ending in -en. For example, at råbe (to shout) becomes råben (shouting), and at snakke (to chat) becomes snakken (chatting).
Gender and usage
Verbal nouns ending in -en are common gender (en words). Because they describe a continuous, abstract activity rather than a distinct physical object, they are generally treated as uncountable and remain in the singular form.
You will frequently see them modified by definite articles (den), indefinite articles (en), or possessives (hans, deres). Notice how the verb skrige transforms into the noun skrigen below:
Describing persistent sounds
This grammar pattern is perfectly suited for describing sounds that you can hear but perhaps cannot immediately see, like movements behind a wall, upstairs neighbors, or an irritating habit someone has.
Forms like trampen (stomping), kradsen (scratching), and sukken (sighing) capture the repetitive nature of these actions beautifully.