fortgått

Fortgått is a verb form used in Norwegian and Swedish (with Danish variants) to indicate that a process or activity has continued up to a certain time, typically up to the present. It is the past participle of the verb fortgå, meaning to continue or to go on. In Norwegian, fortgått is used with auxiliary verbs to form perfect tenses, most often with har, as in prosessen har fortgått i flere måneder. In Swedish and Danish, the corresponding past participle serves a similar function in perfect constructions, for example har fortgått in Swedish and har fortgået in Danish.

Morphology and cross-language forms vary slightly. In Norwegian and Swedish, the past participle commonly appears as fortgått, while Danish uses fortgået. The base verb fortgå is built from fort- (a prefix related to forward or onward) and gå (to go), and is cognate with similar Germanic forms of “continue” in other languages.

Usage notes

Fortgått is generally found in written language and more formal or technical registers. In everyday Norwegian speech, speakers often prefer synonyms such as pågått (in progress) or fortsette (to continue), depending on nuance. Fortgått emphasizes duration and progression of an ongoing process and is typically used in contexts describing events that have persisted up to a reference point.

Examples

Prosessen har fortgått i flere måneder. The process has continued for several months.

Debatten har fortgått siden april. The debate has continued since April.

In Danish: Processen har fortgået siden marts. The process has continued since March.