Ég kem eftir klukkutíma.

I’ll come in an hour.

Breakdown of Ég kem eftir klukkutíma.

• ég: I
• koma: to come
• klukkutími: the hour
• eftir: in

Questions & Answers about Ég kem eftir klukkutíma.

What does each word in Ég kem eftir klukkutíma do?

A simple breakdown is:

• Ég = I
• kem = come / am coming
  This is the 1st person singular present tense of koma (to come).
• eftir = after
• klukkutíma = hour in the form required here

So the structure is basically:

• subject: Ég
• verb: kem
• time expression: eftir klukkutíma

Even though eftir literally means after, the whole phrase eftir klukkutíma is commonly used where English would say in an hour.

Why is it kem and not koma?

Because koma is the infinitive, meaning to come.

In a full sentence, you normally need a conjugated verb, and for I come / I am coming, Icelandic uses kem:

• ég kem = I come / I’m coming
• þú kemur = you come / you’re coming
• hann/hún kemur = he/she comes / is coming

So kem is just the correct finite verb form for ég.

Why is a present-tense verb being used for the future?