To describe ongoing qualities or effects—like an "annoying" sound or an "understanding" boss—Swedish uses present participle adjectives. In English, these often end in "-ing". In Swedish, they end in -ande or -ende.
The best thing about these adjectives is that they are invariable. Unlike most regular Swedish adjectives, they never change their endings to match en-words, ett-words, or plurals.
Adjectives ending in -ende
Verbs ending in a vowel other than -a form adjectives by adding -ende. For example, bero (to depend) becomes beroende (dependent).
Notice how the adjective stays exactly the same, even for plural subjects.
Adjectives ending in -ande
For verbs ending in -a, add -nde to create an -ande ending. For instance, irritera (to annoy) becomes irriterande (annoying).
The adjective remains unchanged, even when paired with standard adjectives that do change.
Describing feelings and effects
These adjectives are perfect for describing the effect a situation has on you. You can form them directly from verbs like förvirra (to confuse), oroa (to worry), and lugna (to calm).