Vikan er liðin.

to be

Breakdown of Vikan er liðin.

• vikan: the week
• liðinn: gone

Questions & Answers about Vikan er liðin.

What does each word in Vikan er liðin literally mean?

Broken down word by word:

• vikan – the week

  • vika = week
  • -n is the definite article suffix (the) in Icelandic, so vikan = the week (subject, nominative case).

• er – is

  • Present tense, 3rd person singular of vera (to be), just like is in English.

• liðin – passed / over / elapsed

  • This is the feminine singular form of the past participle liðinn (from the verb líða = to pass, to elapse).
  • Here it functions like an adjective: liðin = (has) passed, i.e. over.

So the literal structure is: The-week is passed, which corresponds to The week is over in natural English.

Why is it vikan and not vika or vikuna?

It comes from three different grammatical forms:

• vika – week (indefinite, nominative singular)

  • Used when you first mention something in a non-specific way:
    
    • Ég á frí eina viku. – I have a week off.

• – (definite, nominative singular)