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.

• vikan – the week (definite, nominative singular)

  • Subject of the sentence, the specific week you are talking about:
    
    • Vikan er liðin. – The week is over.

• vikuna – the week (definite, accusative singular)

  • Used as a direct object or with many prepositions:
    
    • Ég vann alla vikuna. – I worked the whole week.

In Vikan er liðin, vikan is the subject of the sentence, so it must be nominative definite: vikan.

What is liðin grammatically — is it a verb or an adjective?

Liðin is a past participle used as an adjective:

• The verb is líða – to pass / to elapse (as in time passing).
• Its past participle is liðinn (masc), with gender forms:
  • masculine: liðinn
  • feminine: liðin
  • neuter: liðið

In Vikan er liðin:

• vikan is feminine, so the participle agrees in gender and number:
  • vikan (fem. sg.) → liðin (fem. sg.)

Functionally, er liðin works like is over / is finished, but grammatically it is to be (er) + adjectival participle (liðin).

Why does liðin end in -in? How does it agree with vikan?

Icelandic adjectives (including participles) must agree with the noun in:

• Gender
• Number
• Case

Here:

• vikan is:
  • feminine
  • singular
  • nominative

So the adjective must also be:

• feminine, singular, nominative: liðin

The full pattern of this participle in nominative singular is:

• masculine: liðinn
• feminine: liðin
• neuter: liðið

Compare:

• Dagurinn er liðinn. – The day (masc.) is over.
• Helgin er liðin. – The weekend (fem.) is over.
• Árið er liðið. – The year (neut.) is over.

The ending -in here is the feminine nominative singular ending of the adjective, not the noun’s definite article.

If the week is already over, why is the verb er in the present tense instead of past var?

Er (is) here describes the current state of the week:

• Vikan er liðin.
  
  • Focus: Right now, the week is in a state of being over.
  • Similar to English: The week is over.

If you say:

• Vikan var liðin.
  
  • The week was over.

you are placing this in the past of a past, typically inside a narrative:

Ég áttaði mig ekki á því að vikan var liðin.
I didn’t realize that the week was over.

So:

• er liðin – present viewpoint, describing the current result.
• var liðin – past viewpoint, often in storytelling or reported context.

Is Vikan er liðin the same as saying The week has passed in English?

They are very close, but the nuance is slightly different:

• Vikan er liðin.

  • Literally: The week is passed / is over.
  • Focus on the present state: the week is now finished.

• The week has passed.

  • English present perfect, focusing on the completion of the process of passing.

If you want to mirror English has passed more directly, you could say:

• Vikan hefur liðið. – The week has passed.

However, in everyday Icelandic, for the idea “the week is over”, people overwhelmingly say:

• Vikan er liðin.

So in practice, for a learner, you can treat Vikan er liðin ≈ The week is over / has passed, with a stronger emphasis on “over”.

Can I also say Vikan er búin, and if so, what is the difference from Vikan er liðin?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

• Vikan er liðin.

  • More neutral and common for time having elapsed.
  • Literally: The week is passed / elapsed.
  • Very natural in calendars, end‑of‑week comments, summaries.

• Vikan er búin.

  • Uses búinn, which often means finished / done.
  • Can sound a bit more colloquial and can carry a subtle feeling of “all done with this week”, sometimes with emotional or practical overtones (tired, relieved, etc.).

Both can be translated as The week is over, but if you are talking specifically about time passing, liðin is the more precise and neutral choice.

What is the difference between Vikan er liðin and liðin vika?

They are related but used differently:

1. Vikan er liðin.

   • Full sentence: The week is over.
   • Grammar: subject (vikan)
     • copula (er)
       • adjectival predicate (liðin).

2. liðin vika

   • Noun phrase: the past week / the week that has just passed.
   • Here liðin is an adjective before the noun:
     • liðin vika – the week that has passed (often translated as last week or the past week depending on context).

Example:

• Í liðinni viku fór ég til Akureyrar.
  In the past week / Last week I went to Akureyri.

So:

• Use Vikan er liðin when stating that the week is now over.
• Use liðin vika / í liðinni viku when referring to that past week as a time period.

Can I change the word order and say Liðin er vikan?

In normal speech: no, that sounds wrong or at best extremely marked.

In Icelandic, with vera + adjective, the usual order is:

• Subject – vera – complement
  → Vikan er liðin.

If you say Liðin er vikan, it would be interpreted (if at all) more like:

• The thing that is over is the week,
  as if liðin were the subject and vikan the predicate, which is not how Icelandic speakers express this idea.

So for the meaning The week is over, stick to:

• Vikan er liðin.

How do you pronounce Vikan er liðin?

Approximate pronunciation:

• Vikan – [VEE-kahn]

  • í = long ee sound (like see).
  • Stress on the first syllable: VÍ-kan.

• er – [ehr]

  • Short e like in bed, followed by a trilled or tapped r.

• liðin – roughly [LEE-thin], but with Icelandic sounds:

  • í = long ee sound.
  • ð = voiced th as in this, that.
  • -in with a short i (like the i in bit).

Putting it together:

• Vikan er liðin ≈ VEE-kahn ehr LEE-thin
  (with trilled r and the soft ð in liðin).

Can I use er liðin with other time words, not just vikan?

Yes, this pattern is very common with many time expressions:

• Dagurinn er liðinn. – The day is over.
• Helgin er liðin. – The weekend is over.
• Mánuðurinn er liðinn. – The month is over.
• Árið er liðið. – The year is over.

You just need to:

1. Put the time word in nominative definite (subject).
2. Make liðinn/liðin/liðið agree with its gender and number.

Examples by gender:

• Masculine: dagurinn er liðinn, mánuðurinn er liðinn
• Feminine: vikan er liðin, helgin er liðin
• Neuter: árið er liðið, kvöldið er liðið (the evening is over, in a literary style)

When would I say Vikan var liðin instead of Vikan er liðin?

Use:

• Vikan er liðin

  • When you are speaking from the present moment:
    
    • Nú er föstudagur, vikan er liðin.
      It’s Friday now, the week is over.

• Vikan var liðin

  • When you are telling a story or talking about the past and referring to a moment in the past where the week was already over:

    Þegar ég kom heim, var vikan liðin.
    When I came home, the week was over.

So:

• er liðin – present reference point.
• var liðin – past reference point, usually inside a narrative frame.