nærværende

Nærværende is a Norwegian adjective meaning present or current, used especially in formal or official writing to refer to the document, statement, or discussion at hand. It can denote being in the present moment or being nearby, but in practice the primary use is to designate the thing that is being referred to in the text, as in nærværende rapport or nærværende artikkel, meaning the present report or this article.

Etymology and form: the term is a compound of nær (near) and værende (the present participle of være, "to be"). It reflects a common Scandinavian formation and has cognates in other languages, such as Danish, where nærværende carries a similar meaning. In Norwegian, the form is predominantly used in Bokmål and is typical in official registers and scholarly prose.

Usage and scope: nærværende is most frequent in legal, administrative, academic, or formal prose. It is used to refer to the document or text under discussion rather than to physical presence. For example, one might encounter phrases like "Nærværende dokument gir en oversikt..." or "Nærværende artikkel undersøker..." It is less common in everyday speech, where pronouns like denne or dette are preferred.

Relation to related terms: steder som til stede (present in person) and tilstedeværende (physically present) describe presence rather than the object being discussed. Nærværende thus serves as a stylistic, formal alternative for pointing to the current document or discussion within a text.