toenemende

Toenemende is a Dutch term that functions as the present participle (het deelwoord) of the verb toenemen, meaning to increase or grow. In usage, it is an adjective describing something that is becoming larger, more frequent, or more intense. The form is most commonly encountered in attributive position before a noun, where it conveys a sense of trend or progression. For example: een toenemende vraag (an increasing demand), toenemende kosten (rising costs), toenemende belangstelling (growing interest).

Grammatically, toenemen is an intransitive verb, and its present participle is formed with the suffix -ende, yielding toenem- + ende as a compound adjective. The past participle of toenemen is toegenomen, which is used in perfect tenses to indicate that growth has occurred. The phrase in toenemende mate is a common collocation meaning “to an increasing extent” or “to a growing degree,” where the adjective form emphasizes the degree of change.

Usage notes: Toenemende is frequent in formal or journalistic Dutch when describing trends, processes, or developments that are intensifying. While it is a close synonym of groeiende in many contexts, toenemend specifically foregrounds the idea of a rate or degree of increase rather than mere size growth. It can appear in various domains, including economics, sociology, environmental studies, and policy discussions.

See also: toenemen (verb), toegenomen (past participle), groei, trend.