Breakdown of Han låg gråtande på golvet.
han
he
på
on / at / for (wait for) / in (believe in)
golvet
the floor
gråta
to cry
Questions & Answers about Han låg gråtande på golvet.
Why does gråtande end in -ande instead of being a normal verb form?
Gråtande is the present participle of the verb gråta (to cry). In this sentence, it acts as an adverb of manner describing exactly how he lay on the floor. It translates perfectly to the English '-ing' form in 'crying'.
If the sentence was about several people ('They lay crying'), would gråtande get a plural ending?
No. Unlike adjectives, present participles in Swedish do not change their form to agree with the subject's gender or number. It would still be De låg gråtande på golvet.
Could I say Han var gråtande to mean 'He was crying' like we do in English?
No, Swedish does not use the verb vara (to be) with an -ande word to create an ongoing tense. Instead, Swedish often pairs a position verb like ligga (to lie), sitta (to sit), or stå (to stand) with the present participle to show that an action is continuous, exactly as we see in this sentence.
I often mix up ligga and lägga. Why is låg the correct past tense verb here?
Låg is the past tense of ligga, which describes the state of already resting in a horizontal position (to lie). If he were actively placing himself onto the floor, you would use lade (the past tense of lägga, meaning to lay or put down).