Describing Manner of Motion
To describe exactly how someone or something moves—like "came staggering" or "went flying"—pair the verbs koma (to come) or fara (to go) with a present participle.
The Present Participle (-andi)
The present participle is like the English "-ing" form ("running," "sliding"). To form it, drop the infinitive -a (if there is one) and add -andi to the verb stem:
- skjögra (to stagger) → skjögrandi (staggering)
- þjóta (to rush) → þjótandi (rushing)
- brölta (to scramble) → bröltandi (scrambling)
Present participles are entirely indeclinable; they never change for gender, number, or case.
Koma + Present Participle
Use koma (often in the past tense as kom or komu) followed by the -andi word to describe how something arrives.
| The klutz came staggering into the room. | Klaufinn kom skjögrandi inn í herbergið. |
Even with a plural subject (margir), the participle þjótandi does not change:
| Many came rushing under the table. | Margir komu þjótandi undir borðið. |
Fara + Present Participle
Use fara (often in the past as fór or fóru) to describe how someone leaves, falls, or travels across a space.
| The cream pie went flying over the klutz! | Rjómatertan fór fljúgandi yfir klaufann! |
| The clown goes waddling away. | Trúðurinn fer vappandi í burtu. |
Chaining the Chaos
You can easily link multiple participles with og (and), or combine koma and fara in the same sentence to capture the full trajectory of a mishap.
| I thought the klutz came bouncing and staggering. | Mér fannst klaufinn koma skoppandi og skjögrandi. |
| The klutz came scrambling and went sliding on the banana peel. | Klaufinn kom bröltandi og fór rennandi á bananahýðinu. |