spredes

Spredes is a Danish verb form that serves as the present passive of sprede, meaning to spread. It is used when the actor doing the spreading is unknown, general, or irrelevant. The form is common in neutral, descriptive writing and appears in discussions of disease, information, and physical dispersion.

Etymology and related forms: Spredes derives from sprede, a word in the Germanic family linked to the English verb spread. In Danish, spredes marks an ongoing process and is used to describe something that is spreading rather than a completed action. The active counterpart is spreder; the past tense is spredte, and the past participle is spredt.

Usage and examples: Spredes is favored in impersonal clauses and formal registers. It often appears with adverbs such as hurtigt, gennem, or over. Examples: Sygdommen spredes hurtigt over landet. Rygtet spredes gennem sociale medier.

In style notes, the form can also appear in technical writing and journalism to emphasize process and consequence rather than agency. See also: spread, dissemination, contagion.