This page collects the verb errors that have nothing to do with conjugating the verb correctly and everything to do with choosing the wrong form. They split cleanly into two families with two completely different causes, and keeping them apart is the whole point of this page.
The mood errors — indicative where Icelandic wants the subjunctive — come from the fact that English's subjunctive is essentially dead. English speakers no longer feel a difference between "she said she is sick" and a subjunctive alternative, because for most verbs there is no audible subjunctive left in English at all. So they reach for the indicative everywhere, and in Icelandic that produces a string of small, persistent mistakes in reported speech, in counterfactuals, and after certain conjunctions.
The tense errors — the perfect (hafa + supine) where Icelandic wants the plain preterite — come from somewhere else entirely: English lets the present perfect ("I have gone") sit comfortably next to vague time reference, and learners over-extend it. Icelandic is stricter. A definite past-time adverb (í gær "yesterday," í fyrra "last year") forces the preterite, not the perfect.
Two diseases, two cures. Don't blur them: "use the preterite, not the perfect, with a past-time adverb" is a tense rule; "use the subjunctive for reported and hypothetical content" is a mood rule. This page is the catalogue — each entry gives the wrong form, the correction, and the underlying rule. (The deep theory of why the subjunctive exists lives on the reported-speech and conditionals pages; here we just fix the errors.)
Family 1: indicative where the subjunctive belongs (mood errors)
Error 1 — indicative in reported speech
After a verb of saying or thinking in the past (sagði, hélt, taldi), the embedded clause normally goes into the past subjunctive. English keeps the indicative here ("he said she was sick"), so learners carry the indicative er / var straight over.
❌ Hann sagði að hún er veik.
Incorrect — reported speech after 'sagði að' takes the past subjunctive, not the present indicative 'er'.
✅ Hann sagði að hún væri veik.
He said (that) she was sick.
Why it's wrong: by reporting someone's words you are no longer asserting them as fact yourself — you are presenting them as reported, and Icelandic marks that distance with the subjunctive væri (past subjunctive of vera). The indicative er would assert that she really is sick, on your own authority. Underlying rule: verb of saying/thinking in the past → embedded clause in the past subjunctive (væri, kæmi, hefði).
❌ Hún hélt að ég var farinn heim.
Incorrect — 'hélt að' (thought that) takes the subjunctive: væri farinn, not the indicative 'var'.
✅ Hún hélt að ég væri farinn heim.
She thought I had gone home.
Error 2 — present indicative in a present counterfactual
In an ef-clause that is contrary to present fact ("if I were rich" — but I'm not), Icelandic uses the past subjunctive væri. English uses a past indicative form ("if I was/were rich"), with only the fossil "were" surviving as a real subjunctive — so learners import the indicative var.
❌ Ef ég var ríkur, myndi ég hætta að vinna.
Incorrect — a present counterfactual needs the past subjunctive 'væri', not the past indicative 'var'.
✅ Ef ég væri ríkur, myndi ég hætta að vinna.
If I were rich, I'd stop working.
Why it's wrong: var is the past indicative ("I was"), which states a real past fact. The counterfactual condition is unreal — it runs against present reality — and Icelandic marks that with the past subjunctive væri (note the umlaut: voru → væri). Underlying rule: counterfactual ef-clause → past subjunctive, never the indicative.
❌ Ef hann hafði tíma, kæmi hann með okkur.
Incorrect — the counterfactual condition needs the past subjunctive 'hefði', not the indicative 'hafði'.
✅ Ef hann hefði tíma, kæmi hann með okkur.
If he had time, he'd come with us.
The difference between hafði (indicative "he had") and hefði (subjunctive) is a single letter, and English flattens both into "had" — but only hefði belongs in the unreal condition.
Error 3 — missing subjunctive after þótt and svo að
Certain conjunctions govern the subjunctive by their very meaning. Þótt / þó að "(even) though" introduces a concession, and svo að "so that" (purpose) introduces an intended-but-not-yet-real result — both unreal-leaning, both subjunctive-taking. English uses the indicative after "although" and "so that," so learners do the same.
❌ Þótt hann er ríkur, er hann ekki hamingjusamur.
Incorrect — 'þótt' (although) governs the subjunctive: þótt hann sé ríkur, not the indicative 'er'.
✅ Þótt hann sé ríkur, er hann ekki hamingjusamur.
Although he's rich, he isn't happy.
Why it's wrong: þótt concedes a point rather than flatly asserting it, and Icelandic marks that with the present subjunctive sé (subjunctive of vera). Underlying rule: þótt / þó að always takes the subjunctive.
❌ Ég tala hægt svo að þú skilur mig.
Incorrect — purpose 'svo að' (so that) takes the subjunctive 'skiljir', not the indicative 'skilur'.
✅ Ég tala hægt svo að þú skiljir mig.
I speak slowly so that you'll understand me.
Why it's wrong: a purpose clause names an intended result that has not yet happened, so it is irrealis — hence the subjunctive skiljir. (Contrast a result clause stating what actually happened, svo að ég skildi ekkert, which can be indicative.) Underlying rule: svo að expressing purpose → subjunctive.
Family 2: the perfect where the preterite belongs (tense errors)
Error 4 — perfect with a past-time adverb
This is the single most frequent tense error and it is purely an English-transfer problem. With a definite past-time adverb — í gær "yesterday," í fyrra "last year," í síðustu viku "last week," fyrir tveimur dögum "two days ago" — Icelandic requires the preterite (simple past). English tolerates the present perfect more loosely, and learners produce ég hef farið í gær.
❌ Ég hef farið í bíó í gær.
Incorrect — a definite past time ('í gær') forces the preterite 'fór', not the perfect 'hef farið'.
✅ Ég fór í bíó í gær.
I went to the cinema yesterday.
Why it's wrong: the present perfect (hafa + supine) ties an event to the present — it has present relevance, with no fixed point in the past. A definite past-time adverb does the opposite: it nails the event to a specific completed moment, which is exactly what the preterite is for. The two clash. Underlying rule: definite past-time adverb → preterite (fór, sá, talaði), not the hafa-perfect.
❌ Hún hefur klárað námið í fyrra.
Incorrect — 'í fyrra' (last year) is a definite past time, so use the preterite 'kláraði', not 'hefur klárað'.
✅ Hún kláraði námið í fyrra.
She finished her studies last year.
Compare the perfect used correctly, without a definite time, for present-relevant experience: ég hef aldrei farið til Akureyrar "I've never been to Akureyri." There the perfect is right precisely because no specific past moment is pinned down.
Error 5 — present perfect for a narrated sequence of past events
English can string present perfects together loosely ("I have woken up, I have eaten, and then I have left"). Icelandic narrates a completed past sequence in the preterite throughout; piling up the hafa-perfect sounds wrong.
❌ Í morgun hef ég vaknað, borðað og farið í vinnuna.
Incorrect — a narrated past sequence ('this morning I…') takes the preterite: vaknaði, borðaði og fór.
✅ Í morgun vaknaði ég, borðaði og fór í vinnuna.
This morning I woke up, ate and went to work.
Why it's wrong: you are recounting a finished chain of events located in the past ("this morning"), which is narrative — the home turf of the preterite. The perfect would frame each as present-relevant rather than as a told story. Underlying rule: narrate completed past events in the preterite; reserve the hafa-perfect for experience and present relevance without a fixed time.
Why these are two separate problems
It is tempting to lump everything under "Icelandic verbs are hard," but the two families have nothing in common except that both involve a verb form.
The mood errors (Family 1) all stem from one fact about English: its subjunctive has withered to a few fossils (if I were, I insist that he be), so English speakers don't reflexively encode the difference between asserted fact and reported/hypothetical content. Icelandic does encode it, audibly, with væri / kæmi / sé / hefði. The cure is to install a single trigger: whenever the verb's content is reported (after sagði/hélt að), hypothetical (after ef), or conceded (after þótt), switch to the subjunctive.
The tense errors (Family 2) stem from a completely different fact: English's present perfect is loose about co-occurring time reference, while Icelandic's is strict. The cure is just as mechanical: a definite past-time adverb forces the preterite, and so does narrating a finished sequence.
So when you catch yourself making a verb error, diagnose first. Is there a past-time adverb? → tense → use the preterite. Is the clause reported, hypothetical, or concessive? → mood → use the subjunctive. Two questions, two cures.
Quick-reference: which form, and why
| Context | Wrong (English-style) | Right (Icelandic) | Family |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported speech (past) | sagði að hún er veik | sagði að hún væri veik | mood → subjunctive |
| Present counterfactual | ef ég var ríkur | ef ég væri ríkur | mood → subjunctive |
| After þótt "although" | þótt hann er ríkur | þótt hann sé ríkur | mood → subjunctive |
| After svo að "so that" (purpose) | svo að þú skilur | svo að þú skiljir | mood → subjunctive |
| With past-time adverb | hef farið í gær | fór í gær | tense → preterite |
| Narrated past sequence | hef vaknað, borðað… | vaknaði, borðaði… | tense → preterite |
Key Takeaways
- The verb-choice errors split into two unrelated families with two different English-transfer causes — diagnose before you fix.
- Mood errors come from English's dead subjunctive: use the subjunctive (væri, kæmi, sé, hefði) in reported speech (sagði að hún væri…), counterfactual ef-clauses (ef ég væri…), and after þótt / purpose svo að (þótt hann sé…, svo að þú skiljir).
- Tense errors come from English's loose perfect: a definite past-time adverb (í gær, í fyrra) and narrating a finished sequence both force the preterite (fór, kláraði, vaknaði), not the hafa-perfect.
- The hafa-perfect is right only when there is no fixed past time and you mean present-relevant experience: ég hef aldrei farið þangað.
- Diagnostic: past-time adverb present? → preterite. Clause reported/hypothetical/conceded? → subjunctive.
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- Subjunctive in Reported SpeechB1 — The single most frequent subjunctive trigger in Icelandic: indirect speech introduced by að (and hvort/wh-words) after verbs of saying, thinking, hoping, and asking. The reported clause goes into the subjunctive to mark that the content is REPORTED, not asserted — present subjunctive (sé, komi, fari) under a present matrix verb, past subjunctive (væri, kæmi, færi) under a past one (backshift). Indicative can creep in for facts the speaker personally vouches for, making the mood a subtle evidentiality device.
- Subjunctive in Conditionals (ef, hefði)B1 — How mood works in Icelandic 'if'-sentences. Three conditional types: real/open (ef + indicative present: ef það rignir, þá verð ég heima), counterfactual present (ef + past subjunctive: ef ég væri ríkur, keypti ég…), and counterfactual past (ef + pluperfect subjunctive hefði + supine: ef ég hefði vitað það, hefði ég…). The key insight: the 'would' result is often a BARE past subjunctive (keypti ég bíl), not myndi + infinitive.
- Subjunctive After Conjunctions (þótt, svo að, áður en)B2 — The subordinating conjunctions that govern the subjunctive: concessive þótt / þó að 'although' (þótt hann sé ríkur), purpose svo að / til þess að 'so that' (svo að þú skiljir), conditional nema 'unless' (nema þú komir), and áður en 'before' in some uses. These clauses take the subjunctive because their content is NOT asserted as fact. Includes the meaning-bearing contrast svo að + subjunctive (purpose) vs svo að + indicative (result), and the subtle trap of þó (sentence adverb 'however') versus þó að / þótt (concessive conjunction).
- The Perfect: hafa/vera + SupineB1 — Icelandic builds the perfect with an auxiliary plus the supine: hafa for most verbs (ég hef borðað 'I have eaten') but vera for many intransitive motion and change-of-state verbs (ég er kominn 'I have come', hún er farin 'she has gone') — and in the vera-perfect the participle AGREES in gender and number with the subject. The pluperfect uses hafði/var + supine.
- The Preterite (þátíð): UsesA2 — What the simple past tense does — the default narrative past that covers English simple past AND, often, the present perfect for completed events, with Icelandic's separate hafa + supine perfect used more selectively, and the German-style ban on the perfect with definite past-time adverbs (no *ég hef farið í gær).
- Subjunctive Omission ErrorsB2 — A catalogue of the single most pervasive intermediate-to-advanced error: leaving the verb in the indicative where Icelandic requires the subjunctive. Ten incorrect→corrected pairs sorted by trigger — reported speech, wishes and hopes, concession (þótt), purpose (svo að, til þess að), indirect questions (hvort), and verbs of doubt — each fix swapping an indicative for the present subjunctive (-i: komi, sé, skiljir) or the backshifted past subjunctive (umlaut: væri, kæmi).