Questions & Answers about Ég kem fljótlega heim.
Koma is the infinitive (to come). Kem is the 1st person singular present tense form, used with ég (I).
Conjugation (present):
- ég kem = I come / I’m coming
- þú kemur = you come
- hann/hún/það kemur = he/she/it comes
- við komum = we come
- þið komið = you (pl.) come
- þeir/þær/þau koma = they come
Both are possible depending on context. Icelandic often uses the present tense for near-future plans, similar to English I’m coming soon.
If you want to be extra explicit about the future, you can use mun:
- Ég mun koma fljótlega heim. = I will come home soon.
But Ég kem fljótlega heim. is very natural for an upcoming arrival.
Fljótlega means soon / shortly / before long. It’s fairly neutral: it suggests “not too long from now,” but it doesn’t promise “immediately.”
Related options by feel:
- strax = right away / immediately
- bráðum = soon (common, straightforward)
- innan skamms = before long / shortly (a bit more formal)
That word order is very typical: Verb + adverb + direction/place.
So Ég kem fljótlega heim feels like “I come soon home.”
You can move fljótlega for emphasis, but it changes focus:
- Fljótlega kem ég heim. = Soon I’m coming home (emphasis on soon)
- Ég kem heim fljótlega. = I’m coming home soon (often fine, slightly different rhythm)
- heim = (to) home (motion/direction: going/coming home)
- heima = at home (location: being at home)
So:
- Ég kem heim. = I’m coming home.
- Ég er heima. = I’m at home.
In this use, heim functions like a directional adverb (“homeward / to home”), not like a regular noun that would take an article (there’s no “the” here). It behaves a lot like English home in go home (not go to the home).
Generally, no—Modern Icelandic normally keeps the subject pronoun.
You can drop ég in informal speech in some contexts (especially in quick answers), but the standard, clear version is:
- Ég kem fljótlega heim.
A practical learner-friendly guide:
- Ég: roughly like yeh(g) (the g is often very soft or barely heard)
- kem: like keh-m (short e)
- fljótlega: roughly flyoht-leh-ga (the ó is like “oh,” and flj is a blended sound)
- heim: like haym (similar to English “hame”)
If you want IPA-ish approximations (varies by speaker):
- Ég /jɛːɣ/
- kem /cʰɛm/
- fljótlega /fljouːt.lɛ.ɣa/
- heim /heiːm/
In Icelandic, accents mark a different vowel sound, not stress.
ó is a different vowel than o and is typically pronounced like a longer, “oh”-type vowel (often part of a diphthong in many accents). So fljót- must be learned with ó, not treated as decoration.
It’s partly irregular, especially in the past tense and participle. Present tense is fairly regular-looking (kem, kemur, kemur, komum, komið, koma), but compare:
- Past: ég kom (I came)
- Past plural: við komum (we came) — same spelling as present we come, but different meaning from context
- Past participle: kominn/komin/komið = come/arrived (agrees for gender/number)
You can, but it changes the nuance.
- Ég kem fljótlega heim. = I’m coming home soon (a plan / near-future statement)
- Ég er að koma heim. = I’m in the process of coming home / I’m on my way home
Adding fljótlega to the second one can sound a bit odd because er að koma often implies it’s already happening; still possible in some contexts, but Ég kem fljótlega heim is usually the cleanest.
Question (yes/no):
- Kem ég fljótlega heim? = Am I coming home soon? (less common)
More natural if asking someone else: - Kemurðu fljótlega heim? = Are you coming home soon?
Negative:
- Ég kem ekki fljótlega heim. = I’m not coming home soon.
Word order: ekki typically comes after the verb.