Breakdown of Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við hafa drukkið kaffi.
Questions & Answers about Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við hafa drukkið kaffi.
Á morgun literally means on the morning or in the morning, but as a set phrase it means tomorrow.
- á is a preposition that often translates as on / in / at.
- morgun means morning.
In time expressions, Icelandic commonly uses prepositions where English does not. So:
- Á morgun = tomorrow
- Á föstudaginn = on Friday
- Á sunnudaginn = on Sunday
You can also say morgun alone in some contexts, but Á morgun is the standard neutral way to say tomorrow in a full sentence like this.
Both word orders are possible, but they have slightly different emphasis:
Við munum hafa drukkið kaffi á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar.
– Neutral, subject-first order: We will have drunk coffee tomorrow, before the lecture starts.Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við hafa drukkið kaffi.
– The time expression Á morgun is moved to the front for emphasis or flow.
Icelandic main clauses normally follow a verb‑second (V2) rule:
- First comes some element (subject, time, object, etc.) – here Á morgun.
- Then the finite verb – here munum.
- Then the subject and the rest – við hafa drukkið kaffi.
So once Á morgun is moved to the front, munum must come next.
áður en means before (something happens) and introduces a clause:
- áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar = before the lecture starts
Structure:
- áður = before / earlier
- en here is a conjunction, roughly like than / that, forming before that… / before …
It is normally followed by a full finite clause:
- áður en ég fer – before I go
- áður en við borðum – before we eat
So in the example, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar is a subordinate clause specifying when the main situation is completed.
Standard Icelandic does not use að after áður en. The normal pattern is:
- áður en + [finite clause]
So you say:
- áður en hann kemur – before he comes
- áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar – before the lecture starts
Adding að (áður en að…) is generally considered incorrect or at least non‑standard in contemporary Icelandic.
fyrirlesturinn means the lecture.
Icelandic does not use a separate word like English the. Instead, it usually adds a definite ending to the noun:
- fyrirlestur – a lecture (indefinite, nominative singular)
- fyrirlesturinn – the lecture (definite, nominative singular)
So the -inn at the end is the definite article the attached to the noun.
That is why there is no separate word for the before fyrirlesturinn.
In the clause fyrirlesturinn byrjar, the noun fyrirlesturinn is the subject of the verb byrjar (starts), so it appears in the nominative case.
Basic pattern for a simple clause:
- (Nominative subject) + (finite verb)
Fyrirlesturinn (nom.) byrjar – The lecture starts.
Even inside a larger sentence, each clause has its own subject–verb structure, so this subordinate clause behaves like a small independent sentence regarding case.
Icelandic, like English, can use the present tense for scheduled future events:
- English: The lecture starts at nine tomorrow.
- Icelandic: Fyrirlesturinn byrjar klukkan níu á morgun.
So fyrirlesturinn byrjar literally is the lecture starts, present tense, but with Á morgun (and context) it is understood as starts tomorrow.
You could also use a future construction (mun byrja), but for fixed timetables and arrangements, the present tense is very natural.
Both refer to the future, but their aspect is different:
munum drekka kaffi
– simple future: we will drink coffee (at some point in the future).munum hafa drukkið kaffi
– future perfect: we will have drunk coffee (by some reference time in the future).
In the full sentence:
Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við drekka kaffi.
– Focus on the drinking happening tomorrow before the lecture.Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við hafa drukkið kaffi.
– Focus on the result: by the time the lecture starts, the drinking of coffee will already be completed; we will already have had coffee.
So munum hafa drukkið works exactly like English will have drunk / will have had.
This is the future perfect made from:
- munum – future auxiliary (munu, 1st person plural, we will).
- hafa – auxiliary have, infinitive.
- drukkið – past participle of drekka (to drink).
So structurally:
- við munum – we will
- hafa drukkið kaffi – have drunk coffee
Full breakdown:
- við – we (subject, nominative)
- munum – finite verb, future
- hafa drukkið – verb phrase expressing the completed action
- kaffi – object of the drinking
Because hafa (to have) forms the perfect with the past participle, exactly like English have drunk (not have drink).
- Infinitive: drekka – to drink
- Past participle: drukkið – drunk
Patterns:
- við höfum drukkið kaffi – we have drunk coffee (present perfect)
- við munum hafa drukkið kaffi – we will have drunk coffee (future perfect)
So after hafa in a perfect construction, you must use drukkið, not drekka.
við is the nominative plural pronoun for we and is used as a subject:
- við munum hafa drukkið kaffi – we will have drunk coffee.
Icelandic personal pronouns decline for case. For “we”:
- við – nominative (subject)
- okkur – accusative / dative (object, after many prepositions)
- okkar – genitive (possessive, of us)
Examples:
- Við drekkum kaffi. – We drink coffee. (subject → við)
- Hann sér okkur. – He sees us. (object → okkur)
kaffi is a mass noun, like English coffee, water, milk. In this sentence it is used in an indefinite, generic sense:
- drukkið kaffi – drunk coffee (some coffee, coffee in general)
There is no indefinite article in Icelandic (no separate word for a / an), so a bare noun often corresponds to English a(n) or a bare mass noun.
If you specifically mean the coffee, you attach a definite ending:
- kaffi – coffee / a coffee (context decides)
- kaffið – the coffee
So:
- Við höfum drukkið kaffið. – We have drunk the coffee.
Áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar is a subordinate clause (a dependent time clause). In Icelandic writing, such clauses are often set off with commas, especially when they interrupt the main clause or come in the middle:
- Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við hafa drukkið kaffi.
A simpler main clause would be:
- Á morgun munum við hafa drukkið kaffi. – Tomorrow we will have drunk coffee.
The time‑clause áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar is inserted into this, and commas help mark its boundaries. In speech, you’d usually pause where the commas are.
Yes. A more straightforward, beginner‑friendly version with almost the same meaning would be:
- Á morgun, áður en fyrirlesturinn byrjar, munum við drekka kaffi.
Tomorrow, before the lecture starts, we will drink coffee.
Or, dropping the subordinate clause:
- Á morgun munum við drekka kaffi. – Tomorrow we will drink coffee.
The original munum við hafa drukkið kaffi is just a bit more precise about the action being completed before the lecture starts.