âges

øges is the present passive form of the Danish verb øge, meaning to increase. It is used to describe a rise or growth of something without stating who or what causes the increase. In Danish, øges often appears in formal or technical contexts, such as economics, statistics, and policy reporting.

Grammatical notes: øges is the present tense in the passive voice. The subject of the sentence is the thing that increases. Examples: Prisen øges (the price increases). Antallet af deltagere øges (the number of participants increases). The active counterpart is øger, as in Virksomheden øger salget (the company increases sales). In negative constructions, you can say Prisen øges ikke.

Usage and nuance: øges is commonly found in formal writing and official statistics, where the emphasis is on the change itself rather than the agent causing it. In everyday Danish, speakers more often use verbs like stiger or går op to express a rise, but øges remains correct and clear when the passive voice is desired or when the increase is attributed to external factors.

Etymology and related forms: øge is of Danish origin, cognate with Norwegian øke and Swedish öka, and related to other Germanic forms describing increase. The related forms include øger (active present), øget (past participle), and øgede (past plural), which share the same semantic field.

See also: øge, øger, øget, stige, gå op.