Breakdown of Hún er búin að fylla út eyðublaðið.
vera
to be
hún
she
eyðublaðið
the form
fylla út
to fill out
Questions & Answers about Hún er búin að fylla út eyðublaðið.
What grammatical pattern is hún er búin að + infinitive?
This is the very common Icelandic pattern:
vera + búinn/búin/búið + að + infinitive
It means that someone has finished doing something or is done with an action.
So here:
- hún er = she is
- búin að = finished with / done with
- fylla út eyðublaðið = fill out the form
A good way to think of it is that Icelandic is describing her current state: she is now in the state of having completed that action.
Why is it búin and not búinn or búið?
Because búinn is an adjective, and in Icelandic adjectives agree with the subject in gender and number.
Here the subject is hún, which is feminine singular, so the form is búin.
Compare:
- Hún er búin að... = she is finished doing...
- Hann er búinn að... = he is finished doing...
- Það er búið að... = it is finished / done...
- Þær eru búnar að... = they (feminine) are finished doing...
This agreement is very important and is one of the first things English speakers notice, because English does not change finished this way.
Why is the verb er in the present tense if the action is already completed?