Breakdown of Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku.
Questions & Answers about Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku.
The fixed expression for at the end of (a period of time) is í lok + [genitive].
- í = in / at (here used with a time expression)
- lok = end
- ársins = of the year (genitive singular of ár, with the definite ending -ins)
So the structure is:
- í lok + genitive + definite ending
- í lok dagsins – at the end of the day
- í lok mánaðarins – at the end of the month
- í lok ársins – at the end of the year
You normally don’t say á lok ársins. Without í, lok ársins would usually be part of a larger phrase, not a standalone time adverbial.
Ársins is the genitive singular definite of ár (year).
- Nominative indefinite: ár – a year
- Genitive indefinite: árs – of a year
- Genitive definite: ársins – of the year
The pattern is:
- Stem: ár-
- Genitive ending: -s → árs
- Definite article: -inn → ársinn, but with case endings it fuses as ársins
The phrase í lok demands a genitive: literally in (the) end of the year, so ársins must be genitive.
Both involve the future, but they express different aspects:
mun ég læra mikið í íslensku
= I will learn a lot in Icelandic (in the future, generally).mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku
= I will have learned a lot in Icelandic (by a certain point in the future).
mun + infinitive → simple future: an action that will happen.
mun + hafa + past participle → future perfect: an action that will be completed by some future time.
In your sentence, Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku, the time reference í lok ársins is important: by the end of the year, the learning is already finished, so the future perfect is natural.
- mun is the future auxiliary (marks future time).
- hafa
- lært is the perfect construction (marks a completed action).
Together they create future perfect:
Ég hef lært mikið í íslensku.
= I have learned a lot in Icelandic. (completed by now)Ég mun hafa lært mikið í íslensku.
= I will have learned a lot in Icelandic. (completed by some future time)
If you drop mun, it becomes present perfect, not future perfect. Because your sentence is clearly about a state achieved by the end of the year (future point), mun is required.
Læra is the infinitive to learn.
Lært is the past participle of læra.
The past participle is used with hafa to form perfect tenses:
- Ég læri. – I learn / I am learning. (present)
- Ég lærði. – I learned. (simple past)
- Ég hef lært. – I have learned. (present perfect)
- Ég mun hafa lært. – I will have learned. (future perfect)
In your sentence, hafa lært acts as a single unit meaning have learned (in a completed sense).
Here mikið is an adverbial/quantifier meaning a lot / much. It’s modifying the amount of learning, not counting objects.
- Ég mun hafa lært mikið í íslensku.
= I will have learned a lot in Icelandic.
Alternatives (with slightly different nuances):
Ég mun hafa lært marga hluti í íslensku.
= I will have learned many things in Icelandic. (emphasizes things learned, countable items)Ég mun hafa lært mikið af íslensku.
= I will have learned a lot of Icelandic. (less idiomatic, can sound like a large portion of the language as an object)
Mikið alone is the most natural, general way to say a lot here.
The original word order is very natural:
- Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku.
You do have some flexibility:
- Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku. (very normal)
- Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært í íslensku mikið. (possible, but less natural)
- Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið af íslensku. (changed structure/meaning)
What must remain:
- The finite verb (mun) must be in the second position of the main clause (the V2 rule):
- Í lok ársins mun ég…
- Ég mun í lok ársins…
If you start with Ég, you could say:
- Ég mun hafa lært mikið í íslensku í lok ársins.
This is also fully correct and often more neutral in everyday speech: subject first, then verb.
Íslenska (the language) is a feminine noun. In the phrase læra mikið í íslensku, íslensku is in the dative case, governed by the preposition í.
- Nominative: íslenska – Icelandic (as subject)
- Accusative: íslensku
- Dative: íslensku
- Genitive: íslensku
With í, the case depends on meaning:
- í + accusative – movement into something (into the house, into the water).
- í + dative – location in something (in the house, in the water, in maths, in Icelandic as a school subject).
You are located in the field or subject Icelandic, so dative is used:
- Ég er góður í íslensku. – I am good at Icelandic.
- Ég mun hafa lært mikið í íslensku. – I will have learned a lot in Icelandic.
You can’t say í íslenska here; that would be wrongly declined.
They express different relationships to the language:
í íslensku = in (the subject) Icelandic, in Icelandic as a field of study:
- Ég er góður í íslensku. – I am good at Icelandic (as a school subject).
- Ég lærði mikið í íslensku. – I learned a lot in my Icelandic class / in the subject Icelandic.
á íslensku = in Icelandic (the language used):
- Ég tala á íslensku. – I speak in Icelandic.
- Bókin er á íslensku. – The book is in Icelandic.
Your sentence is about progress within the subject, so í íslensku is the right one.
Yes, that is perfectly correct and actually very common.
Two natural options:
- Í lok ársins mun ég hafa lært mikið í íslensku. (time phrase first, then V2)
- Ég mun hafa lært mikið í íslensku í lok ársins. (subject first, then time phrase later)
Both obey the verb-second (V2) word order rule:
- One element (time phrase or subject) in first position
- Then the finite verb mun in second position
- Then the subject (if it wasn’t first), followed by the rest.
The choice mainly affects emphasis. Starting with Í lok ársins emphasizes the time frame; starting with Ég emphasizes the subject.
Both can occur, but í lok ársins is more common and neutral in everyday speech.
- í lok ársins – at the end of the year (standard, most frequent)
- við lok ársins – at the end of the year (more formal / stylistic, often in written or official contexts)
við more literally evokes the idea of at / by the time of that point. In most everyday utterances about learning progress, you would say í lok ársins.