Present Participles (-andi)

Level 4

Hann kom hlaupandi. (He came running.) Barnið er sofandi. (The child is asleep.) The -andi form never changes.

How It Works

States. A few very common participles describe a state, often after vera:

  • sofandi (asleep): Barnið er sofandi.
  • vakandi (awake): Ertu vakandi?
  • lifandi (alive, live): Er fiskurinn enn lifandi?

How someone comes or goes. After koma and fara, the participle tells how: Hann kom hlaupandi. (He came running.) Við komum gangandi. (We came on foot.) Hún fer hjólandi í vinnuna. (She cycles to work.) It can also show what someone does at the same time: Hún kom brosandi inn. (She came in smiling.)

Before a noun. The participle can describe a noun like an adjective, and it still does not change: rennandi vatn (running water), lifandi tónlist (live music), á komandi árum (in the coming years). Some have become ordinary words: spennandi (exciting), reiprennandi (fluently): Hún talar reiprennandi íslensku.

Not for English -ing. English uses -ing for actions in progress and after many verbs. Icelandic does not use -andi for either:

Nouns in -andi. Some participles have become nouns for people, and those do change form: nemandi, nemanda, nemendur. See nouns in -andi.

Examples (6)

  1. Hann kom hlaupandi.

    He came running.

    Word by Word: He came running.

  2. Barnið er sofandi.

    The child is asleep.

    Word by Word: The child is sleeping.

  3. Ertu vakandi?

    Are you awake?

    Word by Word: Are-you waking?

  4. Er fiskurinn enn lifandi?

    Is the fish still alive?

    Word by Word: Is the fish still living?

  5. Hún kom brosandi inn.

    She came in smiling.

    Word by Word: She came smiling in.

  6. Það er ekki rennandi vatn í kofanum.

    There is no running water in the cabin.

    Word by Word: It is not running water in the cabin.

    Before a noun, the -andi form still does not change.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -andi for an action in progress, as with English -ing.

    Ég er lesandi bók.
    Ég er að lesa bók.

    An action happening now is vera að + infinitive. lesandi is a noun meaning reader, so Ég er lesandi means I am a reader.

  • Using -andi after a verb like elska or byrja.

    Ég elska syndandi.
    Ég elska að synda.

    After verbs such as elska, byrja and hætta, Icelandic uses að + infinitive, not the -andi form.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Present Participles (-andi)Level 4

Learn This First

Present participles build on vera að.

Words in This Pattern

-andikoma