Ég get ekki farið inn án lyklakortsins míns.

I cannot go in without my key card.

Breakdown of Ég get ekki farið inn án lyklakortsins míns.

• ég: I
• ekki: not
• fara: to go
• geta: to be able

Questions & Answers about Ég get ekki farið inn án lyklakortsins míns.

Why is it Ég get ekki farið and not Ég get ekki fara?

After geta (can / be able to), Icelandic usually uses the supine form of the main verb. For fara, that form is farið.

So:

• Ég get farið = I can go
• Ég get ekki farið = I cannot go

You also do not use að here. This is a pattern worth memorizing with geta.

Why does ekki come after get?

In a normal Icelandic main clause, the finite verb usually comes in second position. Here the finite verb is get, so ekki follows it:

• Ég get ekki farið inn

If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Án lyklakortsins míns get ég ekki farið inn.

So the position of ekki is tied to Icelandic word order, especially the verb-second pattern.

What does inn mean here? Why isn’t it inni?