Hann bjó þar alla ævi.

Bjó is the past tense of búa.

In this sentence, búa means to live / reside / dwell somewhere. So hann bjó means he lived.

A useful mini-pattern is:

• búa — infinitive, to live
• býr — present, lives
• bjó — past, lived

So the sentence uses a very common verb for talking about where someone lived.

Hann is the nominative form of he, so it is the normal subject form.

Here it is the person doing the action of bjó:

• hann = he
• bjó = lived

So hann bjó literally means he lived.

This is a very common question because English uses live for more than one idea.

In Icelandic:

• búa = live/reside somewhere
• lifa = live, be alive, live life

Because this sentence includes a place, þar (there), Icelandic normally uses búa.

So:

• Hann bjó þar = He lived there
• Hann lifði lengi = He lived a long time / was alive for a long time

English uses live in both cases, but Icelandic usually separates those meanings.

Þar means there.

It is a location adverb, so it tells you where he lived. It does not change for case, gender, or number.

Useful comparisons:

• þar = there
• þangað = to there / thereward
• þaðan = from there

So in this sentence, þar simply gives the place: he lived there.

Because alla has to agree with ævi.

The word ævi is a feminine singular noun, and here it is in the accusative. The adjective allur (all) changes form to match it:

• masculine accusative singular: allan
• feminine accusative singular: alla
• neuter accusative singular: allt

Since ævi is feminine singular, the correct form is alla.

So:

• alla ævi = all life / all one’s life

In alla ævi, the phrase is in the accusative, and it is being used as an expression of duration of time.

Icelandic often uses the accusative without a preposition to say how long something lasted.

Compare:

• allan daginn = all day
• allt kvöldið = all evening
• alla ævi = all one’s life

So there is no preposition because Icelandic does not need one here. This is just a normal time-duration pattern.

Because Icelandic often leaves that idea implied when it is obvious from the subject.

So Hann bjó þar alla ævi is naturally understood as He lived there all his life, even though Icelandic does not explicitly say his.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

• Hann bjó þar alla ævi sína

That means the same basic thing, but it spells out the possessive more clearly and can sound slightly more emphatic.

Yes. The sentence as given has a very normal order:

• Hann — subject
• bjó — verb
• þar — place
• alla ævi — time duration

But Icelandic allows different word orders for emphasis, especially because it follows the verb-second pattern in main clauses.

For example:

• Þar bjó hann alla ævi.
  = There he lived all his life.

This emphasizes þar a bit more.

You could also see:

• Alla ævi bjó hann þar.

That emphasizes the time span.

So the original order is natural and neutral, but other orders are possible.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

hann byoh thar AL-la EYE-vi

A few key sounds:

• þ sounds like th in thing
• æ sounds like eye
• ó is a long o-sound, so bjó is roughly byoh

This is only an approximation, but it is enough to help you recognize the words.

Not by itself. Bjó can also be the first-person singular past form.

So:

• ég bjó = I lived
• hann bjó = he lived

The subject tells you which person it is.

In this sentence, since the subject is hann, the meaning is clearly he lived.