Intensifying with Participles
In Swedish, present participles (words ending in -ande or -ende, similar to the English -ing) can function as degree adverbs. You can place them directly in front of an adjective to intensify its meaning, much like saying "freezing cold" or "scorching hot" in English.
| The water in the ice hole was freezing cold. | Vattnet i isvaken var isande kallt. |
| After the dip, we drank scorching hot tea. | Efter doppet drack vi brännande hett te. |
Notice that the participle acting as the intensifier (isande, brännande) never changes its form. However, the adjective it modifies (kallt, hett) still must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes (such as the ett-words vattnet and te).
Extreme Temperatures
These intensifying participles are especially useful when describing extreme environments, like moving between a hot sauna and an ice hole. Other common temperature intensifiers include ångande (steaming) and bitande (biting).
| It is either a steaming hot sauna or a freezing cold lake. | Det är antingen en ångande het bastu eller en isande kall sjö. |
| She stood in the bathrobe and looked at the biting cold storm. | Hon stod i badrocken och tittade på den bitande kalla stormen. |
In the last example, the phrase den bitande kalla stormen shows that the adjective kall takes its definite form (kalla) to match the definite noun, but the intensifier bitande remains exactly the same.
Participles can also function as standard adjectives on their own, rather than as intensifiers for other words. In the following example, bitande acts as an intensifier, while uppfriskande acts as a standalone adjective:
| The cold bath is bitingly cold but refreshing. | Kallbadet är bitande kallt men uppfriskande. |