Ég fer heim á miðnætti.

I go home at midnight.

Breakdown of Ég fer heim á miðnætti.

• ég: I
• fara: to go
• heim: home
• á miðnætti: at midnight

Questions & Answers about Ég fer heim á miðnætti.

Why is there no preposition before heim in this sentence?

In Icelandic heim is an adverb meaning “home” or “to home.” Adverbs of direction often stand alone without a preposition. You could think of it like English “I go home,” not “I go to home.”

What is the function of á in á miðnætti, and which case does it govern?

The preposition á here means “at” (referring to a point in time). Á with a time expression takes the dative case. The noun miðnætti stays miðnætti in the dative (nominative and dative are identical in the singular for this word).

Why doesn’t miðnætti have a definite article (e.g., “the”) in Icelandic?

Time expressions introduced by á such as á morgnana, á þriðjudögum or á miðnætti are set phrases and never use a separate article. Contrast that with “klukkan þrjú” (“at three o’clock”), where klukkan itself carries the definite meaning of “the clock.”

How do I pronounce miðnætti?