Ég sef lengur, því það er frídagur á morgun.

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Breakdown of Ég sef lengur, því það er frídagur á morgun.

• vera: to be
• það: it
• sofa: to sleep

Questions & Answers about Ég sef lengur, því það er frídagur á morgun.

What is the infinitive of sef, and why does the vowel change?

The infinitive is sofa (to sleep).

Sef is the 1st person singular present tense of sofa:

• ég sef – I sleep
• þú sefur – you sleep
• hann/hún/það sefur – he/she/it sleeps

So → se is a regular strong-verb vowel change in Icelandic. Many strong verbs change the stem vowel between infinitive and present (and again in the past). So sofa – sef is just a pattern you have to memorize, similar to English sleep – slept (vowel change) but in different forms.

What is the difference between lengi and lengur?

Both are related to long (time):

• lengi = for a long time
• lengur = for a longer time / longer (any more) – the comparative form

In the sentence Ég sef lengur, lengur means “longer (than usual)” or “for a longer time”, and often translates naturally as “I sleep in” rather than literally I sleep longer.

Example contrast:

• Ég sef lengi – I sleep for a long time.
• Ég sef lengur – I sleep longer / I will sleep in.