Kjørende

kjørende is the present participle form of the Norwegian verb kjøre, meaning to drive or operate a vehicle. As an adjective it conveys the sense of something that is driving, in operation, or currently being used. The term is commonly used in compound noun phrases to describe equipment or vehicles that are actively in use.

In everyday Norwegian, kjørende functions most often attributively, placed before the noun. Examples include kjørende bil (a car that is being driven), kjørende tog (a train that is in operation), and kjørende maskin (a machine that is running). The form agrees with the noun in number and gender: en kjørende bil, to kjørende biler, ofte described as “kjørende” in plural forms.

Predicative use of kjørende is less common in fluent Norwegian. If one wants to express that something is currently operating, it is more typical to use a different construction such as in drift or simply state the action: bilen kjører, eller bilen er i drift. In technical contexts kjørende often appears in manuals, traffic reports, or descriptions of equipment status where it succinctly conveys “the thing is currently driven/operated.”

Etymology and related forms: kjørende derives from the verb kjøre with the suffix -nde, forming a present participle. Related terms include kjøring (driving or operation as a noun) and kjører (present tense, he/she drives). The word is primarily used in Bokmål Norwegian; form and usage align with standard participial adjectives for ongoing action.