Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.

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Breakdown of Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.

• borga: to pay
• tíminn: the time
• á: on
• í: in
• hver: every
• réttur: right
• leigan: the rent
• mánuður: the month

Questions & Answers about Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.

Why is the verb borgum and not borgar in this sentence?

The verb borgum is the present-tense form of borga (to pay) for first person plural (we).

Present tense of borga:

• ég borga – I pay
• þú borgar – you (singular) pay
• hann / hún / það borgar – he / she / it pays
• við borgum – we pay
• þið borgið – you (plural) pay
• þeir / þær / þau borga – they pay

Since the subject is við (we), the correct form is borgum, not borgar.
Borgar would be used with þú, hann, hún, or það.

Why is it leiguna and not leiga or leigu?

Leiguna is definite and in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb.

• The basic noun is leiga – rent.
• As an object, the indefinite accusative would be leigu.

• To say the rent, Icelandic adds a definite ending to the noun instead of a separate word like the:

  Feminine noun like leiga:

  • nominative: leigan – the rent (subject)
  • accusative: leiguna – the rent (object)
  • dative: leigunni
  • genitive: leigunnar

In this sentence, we are clearly talking about our specific rent (the usual, known monthly rent), so Icelandic uses the definite accusative: leiguna.

What does the preposition á do in á réttum tíma, and why is tíma in that form?

Á is a preposition that often means on or at. In time expressions like á réttum tíma (“on time / at the right time”), it takes the dative case.

The noun tími (time) is masculine:

• nominative: tími
• accusative: tíma
• dative: tíma
• genitive: tíma

So the dative singular form is tíma, and because á here expresses time as a kind of “location in time” (not movement towards), it requires dative. That gives á tíma, and with the adjective agreeing (see next question) it becomes á réttum tíma – at the right time / on time.

Why is the adjective réttum spelled that way, and what is it agreeing with?

Réttum is the dative masculine singular form of the adjective réttur (right, correct).

Adjectives in Icelandic must agree with the noun they modify in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• number (singular / plural)
• case (nominative / accusative / dative / genitive)

Here it modifies tíma:

• tími is masculine
• it is singular
• it is in the dative case because of á

So the adjective must also be:

• masculine
• singular
• dative

That form is réttum, hence á réttum tíma – at the right time.

Why is it í hverjum mánuði and not something like á hverjum mánuði or hverjum mánuð?

Several things are going on here:

1. Preposition choice: í vs. á

   • í
     • dative is used for time expressions meaning in / during a period:
       • í janúar – in January
       • í hverjum mánuði – in every month → every month
   • á
     • dative with a time word can mean things like “on Fridays” (á föstudögum) or “at that time”, but:
       • á mánuði usually means per month (e.g. 300.000 krónur á mánuði – 300,000 kr per month).
   • Here we want “every month” in the sense of during each month, so í hverjum mánuði is the natural choice.

2. Why mánuði and not mánuð?

   The noun mánuður (month) declines roughly like this:

   • nominative: mánuður
   • accusative: mánuð
   • dative: mánuði
   • genitive: mánaðar

   After í with a time meaning in, we use the dative, so mánuði is correct.

3. Why not drop the ending, like hverjum mánuð?

   Nouns must take the correct case endings. You cannot strip them off; mánuð is accusative, but í here requires dative, so you need mánuði.

What form of hver is hverjum, and why is it used here?

Hverjum is the dative masculine singular form of hver (each, every / who).

It’s used because it has to agree with mánuði:

• mánuði is masculine, singular, dative (after í with this time meaning).
• Therefore, hver must also be masculine, singular, dative → hverjum.

So í hverjum mánuði literally is in each month, functioning as “every month”.

Does the Icelandic present tense here imply a habitual action, like “we pay every month”?

Yes. The present tense in Icelandic is used for:

• actions happening right now, and
• habitual / repeated actions.

In Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði, the presence of í hverjum mánuði (“every month”) makes it clearly habitual:
We (regularly) pay the rent on time every month.

You do not need a separate tense or special marker for “usually / regularly” – the plain present works for that, often with an adverbial like í hverjum mánuði, oft (often), alltaf (always), etc.

Can I change the word order in this sentence, for example put the time expression first?

Yes, Icelandic word order is flexible, especially with time and place expressions, but there are some patterns:

Basic order:

• Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.

Common variations that are still natural:

• Í hverjum mánuði borgum við leiguna á réttum tíma.
  (Emphasis: it’s something that happens monthly.)

• Við borgum leiguna í hverjum mánuði á réttum tíma.
  (Still fine; just rearranging the adverbials.)

You usually keep:

• the finite verb in second position in a main clause, and
• the subject–verb pair close to the start.

In practice, you can move á réttum tíma and í hverjum mánuði around each other without changing the meaning much; it just changes which element you emphasize slightly.

Can I omit the pronoun við here, like in some other languages?

Generally no. Modern Icelandic is not a “pro‑drop” language like Spanish or Italian. The subject pronoun is normally expressed:

• Við borgum leiguna… – We pay the rent…
• Þeir borga leiguna… – They pay the rent…

There are rare stylistic or fragmentary contexts where a subject might be dropped (e.g. in diary notes, commands, or headlines), but in a normal sentence like this you should keep við.

Is there a difference between borga leiguna and borga leigu without the definite ending?

Yes, there is a difference in definiteness, although in real life one of them is far more common:

• borga leiguna – pay the rent

  • specific, known rent (your usual monthly rent).
  • This is what you almost always say in this context.

• borga leigu – pay (some) rent

  • grammatically fine, but sounds more indefinite / abstract.
  • You might see it in more general statements, e.g.
    Það er dýrt að borga leigu í Reykjavík. – It is expensive to pay rent in Reykjavík.

When you talk about your actual monthly payment, you normally use the definite form: leiguna.

Are there synonyms or more formal ways to say borga leiguna?

Yes. The main synonym is greiða (to pay, settle a bill):

• Við greiðum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.

Differences in feel:

• borga – everyday, neutral, very common in speech.
• greiða – a bit more formal or bookish, common in writing, contracts, etc.

Both are perfectly correct. In normal conversation, borga leiguna is probably more frequent; in official documents or more formal text, greiða leiguna is very natural.

How would the sentence change if the subject were singular, like “I pay the rent on time every month”?

You mainly change the subject pronoun and the verb form. The rest of the sentence stays the same:

• Við borgum leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.
  – We pay the rent on time every month.

• Ég borga leiguna á réttum tíma í hverjum mánuði.
  – I pay the rent on time every month.

Here’s the pattern for different subjects:

• Ég borga leiguna… – I pay the rent…
• Þú borgar leiguna… – You (singular) pay the rent…
• Hann / hún borgar leiguna… – He / she pays the rent…
• Við borgum leiguna… – We pay the rent…
• Þið borgið leiguna… – You (plural) pay the rent…
• Þeir / þær / þau borga leiguna… – They pay the rent…