Temporal Conjunctions: þegar, meðan, áður en, eftir að | Icelandic Grammar

Temporal conjunctions answer the question when? by pinning one clause to another in time: þegar "when," meðan "while," áður en "before," eftir að "after," þangað til / uns "until," jafnskjótt og "as soon as." For an English speaker the vocabulary is easy; the two things to absorb are (1) the mood — Icelandic temporal clauses stay in the indicative even for future events, where you might reach for a subjunctive or a future form — and (2) the word order, which is subordinate-clause order (no V2). This page focuses on those two points and on each conjunction's behaviour. General subordination and the subjunctive system have their own pages; here we apply both to the temporal corner.

The temporal conjunctions at a glance

Conjunction	Meaning	Note
þegar	when (a definite time)	the workhorse; also "once / as soon as"
meðan / á meðan	while, as long as	simultaneous, ongoing action
áður en	before	two words, always together; optional subjunctive
eftir að	after	two words, always together
þangað til / þar til	until	up to a point in time
uns	until	(literary) shorter, more formal variant of þangað til
jafnskjótt og / um leið og	as soon as	immediate succession

A few notes up front. þegar is the all-purpose "when" for a definite occasion (not the question word, which is also hvenær); it can shade into "once" or "as soon as." áður en and eftir að are fixed two-word units — dropping the en or the að leaves a fragment. uns is a compact, literary equivalent of þangað til that you'll meet in writing and song but rarely in casual speech.

The key rule: temporal clauses take the indicative — even for the future

This is the point that matters most, and the one English does not prepare you for. In a temporal clause, Icelandic uses the present indicative to refer to future time. Þegar hann kemur means "when he comes" and "when he will come" — the present-tense kemur covers both. There is no future tense form here, and crucially no subjunctive: temporal clauses describe events that are simply located in time, treated as things that will happen, not as hypotheses to be doubted. The mood stays firmly indicative.

Ég hringi í þig þegar ég kem heim.

I'll call you when I get home. Future reference, but the temporal clause uses the PRESENT INDICATIVE kem — not a subjunctive or a future form.

Við förum út um leið og rigningin hættir.

We'll go out as soon as the rain stops. hættir is present indicative, pointing to the future. 'as soon as' = um leið og.

Bíddu hérna þangað til ég kem aftur.

Wait here until I come back. kem (present indicative) for a future return — no subjunctive after þangað til.

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The mood boundary to remember: temporal conjunctions (þegar, meðan, þangað til, eftir að) take the INDICATIVE, even for the future — þegar ég kem = "when I come/will come." This is exactly where they part company with hypothetical/conditional conjunctions, which can trigger the subjunctive. "When it happens" is real; "if it should happen" is not.

This contrast is the whole reason temporal conjunctions deserve their own treatment. A future event introduced by þegar is presented as certain to occur — you're just saying when, not whether — so the indicative is right. Compare a genuinely hypothetical ef ("if") clause, which can take the subjunctive precisely because the event is in doubt. Temporal = real and indicative; conditional = possible and (often) subjunctive.

Word order: subordinate, no V2

Like all subordinate clauses, a temporal clause uses subordinate word order, not main-clause V2. The subject sits right after the conjunction, and ekki / sentence adverbs do not trigger the verb-second inversion you get in a main clause. And when the temporal clause is fronted (put first), the following main clause inverts — its finite verb jumps to second position, before its subject — because the whole temporal clause fills the first slot.

Þegar ég kom, var hún farin.

When I arrived, she had (already) left. Fronted þegar-clause → the main clause inverts: var hún (verb before subject).

Meðan þú bíður, get ég náð í kaffi.

While you wait, I can grab some coffee. Fronted meðan-clause → main verb get before subject ég.

Áður en þú ferð, ekki gleyma að læsa hurðinni.

Before you go, don't forget to lock the door. Fronted áður en-clause; ferð is the subordinate verb, with subordinate order.

So a temporal sentence often shows two word-order facts at once: inside the temporal clause, plain subject-verb order with no V2; outside, in a main clause that comes second, the inverted verb-before-subject order triggered by the fronted clause. (The mechanics of both are covered on the subordinating-conjunctions and word-order pages.)

Hann sofnaði meðan myndin var enn í gangi.

He fell asleep while the film was still on. Non-fronted: main clause first (hann sofnaði), then the meðan-clause with subordinate order.

áður en: the one with an optional subjunctive

There is one wrinkle in the indicative picture. áður en ("before") optionally allows the subjunctive — and this is not arbitrary. The logic is that an event before which something happens may not yet have occurred (and in some readings might not occur at all), so it can be felt as not-fully-real, which licenses the subjunctive. Both are correct: áður en hann kemur (indicative) and áður en hann komi (subjunctive) are both used, the subjunctive sounding a touch more formal or careful, and especially natural when the "before" event is forestalled or prevented.

Við skulum klára þetta áður en gestirnir koma.

Let's finish this before the guests arrive. áður en + indicative koma — the everyday, neutral choice.

Hann náði að flýja áður en lögreglan kæmi.

He managed to escape before the police arrived/could arrive. áður en + subjunctive kæmi — slightly more formal; fits the 'forestalled' reading.

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Default to the indicative with every temporal conjunction, including áður en. The subjunctive after áður en is a legitimate option — a bit more formal, natural when the later event is prevented or hypothetical — but you are never wrong choosing the indicative for a plain "before X happens."

meðan vs þegar: ongoing vs point

A quick distinction English blurs less than you'd think but worth flagging: þegar locates an event at a point ("when X happened"), while meðan spans a stretch of simultaneous, ongoing time ("while / as long as X was going on"). Use meðan for two things happening in parallel over a duration, þegar for the moment one event coincides with or triggers another.

Þegar síminn hringdi, var ég í sturtu.

When the phone rang, I was in the shower. þegar = the point in time the phone rang.

Meðan ég var í sturtu, hringdi síminn þrisvar.

While I was in the shower, the phone rang three times. meðan = the ongoing stretch during which it kept ringing.

How this differs from English

English does something Icelandic does not: in a future-time temporal clause, English forbids will and uses the present ("I'll call you when I get home," not "when I will get home") — so on the surface English and Icelandic agree, both using a present-tense form. The trap is subtler. English speakers, having learned that subjunctive/irrealis marking shows up in some subordinate clauses, over-extend it to temporal clauses, or reach for a future-marked verb. Icelandic keeps temporal clauses resolutely indicative. The one shared instinct that helps is the English "when I get home" pattern — that present-for-future is exactly right; just don't add anything to it. And remember the two word-order effects (no internal V2; inversion of a main clause after a fronted temporal clause), which English lacks entirely.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ég hringi þegar ég komi heim.

Incorrect — temporal þegar takes the INDICATIVE for future time, not the subjunctive: þegar ég kem heim.

✅ Ég hringi þegar ég kem heim.

I'll call when I get home. Present indicative kem for the future.

The over-applied subjunctive is the classic error. "When I come" is a real, located event — indicative.

❌ Þegar ég mun koma, hringi ég.

Incorrect — don't build a future with munu in a temporal clause; the present indicative carries future meaning: Þegar ég kem.

✅ Þegar ég kem, hringi ég.

When I come, I'll call. Present indicative kem covers the future.

Inserting munu ("will") into the temporal clause is an English-style future-marking error. The present does the job.

❌ Þegar á morgun ég kem, …

Incorrect word order — you can't front 'á morgun' and reorder inside the temporal clause; keep subject-then-verb: þegar ég kem á morgun.

✅ Þegar ég kem á morgun, hringi ég.

When I come tomorrow, I'll call. Subordinate order inside the clause; main clause inverts (hringi ég).

Temporal clauses use subordinate order; you cannot front material and trigger main-clause V2 inside them.

❌ Förum áður hann kemur.

Incomplete conjunction — 'before' is the two-word áður en, never áður alone here.

✅ Förum áður en hann kemur.

Let's go before he comes. áður en is a fixed two-word unit.

áður en and eftir að are two-word conjunctions; dropping the second word is ungrammatical.

❌ Ég las bók meðan ég beið, en þegar strætó kom var ég ekki tilbúinn.

(fine!) This is correct — shown to confirm: meðan for the ongoing wait, þegar for the point the bus came, both indicative.

✅ Ég las bók meðan ég beið; þegar strætó kom, var ég ekki tilbúinn.

I read a book while I waited; when the bus came, I wasn't ready. meðan = duration, þegar = point — both indicative.

Using meðan for a span and þegar for a point, both in the indicative, is exactly right — this pair is the model to imitate.

Key Takeaways

The temporal set: þegar (when), meðan / á meðan (while), áður en (before), eftir að (after), þangað til / þar til and uns (until; uns is literary), jafnskjótt og / um leið og (as soon as).
Mood: temporal clauses take the INDICATIVE, even for future time — þegar ég kem = "when I come / will come." Don't use a subjunctive or a munu-future here.
The one exception: áður en allows an optional subjunctive (áður en hann komi), a touch more formal and natural when the later event is forestalled; the indicative is always safe.
Word order: subordinate order inside the clause (no V2); a fronted temporal clause inverts the following main clause (Þegar ég kom, *var hún farin*).
þegar = a point in time; meðan = an ongoing stretch.
The mood boundary is the headline: temporal = real = indicative, unlike hypothetical ef-style conjunctions that can take the subjunctive.

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