Við höfum farið yfir þessa brú mörgum sinnum.

We have gone over this bridge many times.

Breakdown of Við höfum farið yfir þessa brú mörgum sinnum.

• við: we
• þessi: this
• hafa: to have
• fara yfir: to go over
• brúin: the bridge
• mörgum sinnum: many times

Questions & Answers about Við höfum farið yfir þessa brú mörgum sinnum.

Why is the verb phrase höfum farið used instead of a simple past like fórum?

Icelandic commonly uses the present perfect construction (hafa + past participle) to describe actions that have occurred in the past with relevance to the present or emphasise completion.

• Við höfum farið yfir = “We have gone over/We’ve crossed.”
  You can also use simple past Við fórum yfir (“We went across”), but the perfect often sounds more natural when talking about repeated past experiences up to now.

What exactly does fara yfir mean, and how does yfir function here?

Fara yfir literally combines fara (“to go”) with the preposition yfir (“over, across”) to mean “to cross.”

• The preposition yfir indicates movement across something and requires the object to be in the accusative case (see next questions).

Why is þessa brú in the accusative case?

When you use fara yfir to express crossing, yfir is treated like a directional preposition taking the accusative.

• Nominative (subject): þessi brú
• Accusative (object of movement): þessa brú
  Thus fara yfir þessa brú = “to cross this bridge.”

Why does the time expression appear as mörgum sinnum (dative plural) instead of mörg sinnum?

Many Icelandic time expressions use the dative. After a numeral or adjective + sinn (“time, occasion”), you put sinn in the dative plural:

• Nominative plural: mörg sinn
• Dative plural: mörgum sinnum
  Hence mörgum sinnum = “many times.”

Could we move mörgum sinnum earlier in the sentence, for example “Við höfum mörgum sinnum farið yfir þessa brú”?

Yes. Icelandic has relatively flexible adverbial placement, as long as you respect the Verb-Second (V2) rule: the finite verb (höfum) must be in second position. Both of these are grammatically correct:

1. Við höfum farið yfir þessa brú mörgum sinnum.
2. Við höfum mörgum sinnum farið yfir þessa brú.
   The nuance is tiny—1 emphasizes the action first, 2 highlights “many times.”

What’s the difference in meaning between “Við höfum farið yfir þessa brú” and “Við fórum yfir þessa brú”?

• Við höfum farið yfir (present perfect) suggests the action happened at various unspecified times in the past and has present relevance (“We’ve crossed… up to now”).
• Við fórum yfir (simple past) treats it as a completed event at a definite time (“We crossed the bridge [once or a few times]”).
  For repeated or habitual past actions, the perfect is often more idiomatic.

Why is the demonstrative þessi used instead of a definite suffix on brú (like brúin)?

In Icelandic, you usually choose either a demonstrative pronoun (þessi brú = “this bridge”) or the definite article suffix (brúin = “the bridge”).

• Þessi brú is “this bridge.”
• Brúin is “the bridge.”
  You do not need both; using þessi brúin is grammatically possible but redundant.

How do you pronounce the ö in höfum, and why does f sometimes sound like v here?

• Ö is an open-mid front rounded vowel, similar to the vowel in British English “burn” or French “eu.”
• In Icelandic, f between vowels often voices to [v]. So höfum sounds roughly like [ˈhœːvum].

Why is the finite verb höfum placed second even though Við is the subject in first position?

Icelandic follows the V2 word-order rule: in main clauses, the finite verb must occupy the second position regardless of what comes first (subject, object, or adverbial). Here:

1. Við (1st position)
2. höfum (finite verb, 2nd)
   3+. farið yfir þessa brú mörgum sinnum (rest of the clause)