ferðast ("to travel") is the everyday word for travelling — going abroad, touring a country, moving around. Formally it is a middle-voice verb (the -st form), but it is special: there is no active counterpart. You will never meet *ferða; the verb simply does not exist outside the -st. Verbs like this — middle in form but plain in meaning — are called deponent, and ferðast is one of the cleanest examples in the language. The -st here is lexical: it is just part of how the word is spelled, not a reflexive ("travel oneself") or a passive ("be travelled"). This page gives the full -st paradigm and the two prepositions it lives with: ferðast til (+ genitive) and ferðast um (+ accusative).
Conjugation
Type: deponent middle (miðmynd), weak. Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef ferðast "I have travelled." Because there is no active stem to alternate against, the verb is fully regular: the -st simply rides on top of a weak -að- base, giving ferðast / ferðaðist / ferðast.
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að ferðast |
| 1sg present | ferðast |
| 1sg past | ferðaðist |
| 3pl past | ferðuðust |
| Supine | ferðast |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | ferðast | ferðaðist |
| þú | ferðast | ferðaðist |
| hann / hún / það | ferðast | ferðaðist |
| við | ferðumst | ferðuðumst |
| þið | ferðist | ferðuðust |
| þeir / þær / þau | ferðast | ferðuðust |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | ferðist | ferðaðist |
| þú | ferðist | ferðaðist |
| hann / hún / það | ferðist | ferðaðist |
| við | ferðumst | ferðuðumst |
| þið | ferðist | ferðuðust |
| þeir / þær / þau | ferðist | ferðuðust |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | ferðastu (rare; usually paraphrased) |
| Imperative (þið) | ferðist! |
| Supine | ferðast |
| Present participle | ferðandi (rare; "travelling, itinerant") |
| Active counterpart | — none (deponent: no *ferða) |
What "deponent" means here
In most -st verbs, the middle stands in contrast to a living active verb and adds a meaning: reflexive (klæða "dress someone" → klæðast "dress oneself"), reciprocal (hitta "meet someone" → hittast "meet each other"), or a "manage to" nuance (koma → komast). With ferðast there is nothing to contrast against. The active *ferða is dead; only the -st survives. So the -st carries no meaning of its own — it is frozen into the lexeme. Grammarians call such verbs deponent (Latin dēpōnēns, "laying aside" — it has laid aside its active form). The practical upshot: never look for an active "to travel"; ferðast is the only form there is.
Ég ferðast mikið vegna vinnunnar, oftast til útlanda.
I travel a lot for work, usually abroad. (present 'ferðast'; there is no active *ferða)
Þau ferðuðust um alla Evrópu sumarið eftir stúdentspróf.
They travelled all over Europe the summer after graduation. (past plural 'ferðuðust')
ferðast til — "travel to" (+ genitive)
The destination of a journey is expressed with til + genitive: ferðast til Íslands ("travel to Iceland"), ferðast til útlanda ("travel abroad," literally "to foreign-lands-GEN"). Remember that til is one of the prepositions that always governs the genitive, so the place name must be in the genitive case — Íslands, not \Ísland*.
Við ferðuðumst til Ítalíu í brúðkaupsferðina okkar.
We travelled to Italy for our honeymoon. (ferðast til + genitive Ítalíu)
Hann hefur aldrei ferðast til annarra landa.
He has never travelled to other countries. (perfect 'hefur ferðast'; genitive 'annarra landa')
ferðast um — "travel around / through" (+ accusative)
To express moving around or through an area, use um + accusative: ferðast um landið ("travel around the country"), ferðast um heiminn ("travel around the world"). Here til marks the endpoint, while um marks the territory you move through. Both are extremely common; choosing between them is exactly the to vs around/through distinction English makes.
Hún ferðaðist um hálendið á gömlum jeppa í þrjár vikur.
She travelled around the highlands in an old jeep for three weeks. (ferðast um + accusative hálendið)
Það er ódýrast að ferðast um borgina með strætó.
It's cheapest to travel around the city by bus. (ferðast um + accusative borgina)
A note on register and synonyms
ferðast is neutral and works in every register, from chat to travel writing. For the concrete act of "going on a trip," Icelandic often uses fara í ferð or fara til + place instead; ferðast leans toward the habit or activity of travelling rather than a single trip. So ég ferðast mikið ("I travel a lot") describes a lifestyle, whereas ég fer til Akureyrar á morgun ("I'm going to Akureyri tomorrow") describes one journey. The noun is ferð (f.) "trip, journey," and the agent noun ferðamaður "traveller, tourist."
Mér finnst skemmtilegra að ferðast en að liggja á strönd.
I find travelling more fun than lying on a beach. (the activity, not a single trip)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég ferða til Spánar á hverju ári.
Incorrect — there is no active *ferða; the verb only exists as the -st form 'ferðast'.
✅ Ég ferðast til Spánar á hverju ári.
I travel to Spain every year.
❌ Við ferðumst til Ísland í fyrra.
Incorrect — til governs the GENITIVE, so it must be 'Íslands' (and the past plural is 'ferðuðumst').
✅ Við ferðuðumst til Íslands í fyrra.
We travelled to Iceland last year.
❌ Þú ferðastur of mikið.
Incorrect — the -st form takes no personal -ur ending; for þú it is simply 'ferðast'.
✅ Þú ferðast of mikið.
You travel too much.
❌ Þau ferðaðust um allan heiminn.
Incorrect tense agreement — the past PLURAL is 'ferðuðust', not the singular 'ferðaðist/ferðaðust'.
✅ Þau ferðuðust um allan heiminn.
They travelled all over the world.
Key Takeaways
- ferðast / ferðaðist / ferðuðust / ferðast — a deponent middle verb: middle in form, plain in meaning, with no active *ferða.
- The -st is lexical (frozen into the word), not reflexive or passive — there is nothing for it to "reflect."
- Singular present is invariant ferðast (ég/þú/hann); plural restores forms: ferðumst / ferðist / ferðast.
- ferðast til
- genitive = "travel to (a destination)"; ferðast um
- accusative = "travel around/through (an area)."
- genitive = "travel to (a destination)"; ferðast um
- Leans toward the activity/habit of travelling; for one trip, Icelandic often prefers fara í ferð / fara til. Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef ferðast.
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