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Hún er nýbúin að setja á sig garðhanskana og vill vinna aðeins lengur.

Hún er nýbúin að setja á sig garðhanskana og vill vinna aðeins lengur.
She has just put on the gardening gloves and wants to work a little longer.
FromLesson 63inHardcore Icelandic

Questions & Answers about Hún er nýbúin að setja á sig garðhanskana og vill vinna aðeins lengur.

Why is it nýbúin and not nýbúinn or nýbúið?

Because nýbúinn behaves like an adjective here and agrees with the subject.

  • hún is feminine singular
  • so the form is nýbúin

Compare:

  • hann er nýbúinn
  • hún er nýbúin
  • það er nýbúið

So nýbúin matches hún.

What does vera nýbúinn að + infinitive mean?

It is a very common Icelandic pattern meaning to have just done something or to have recently finished doing something.

So:

  • Hún er nýbúin að setja á sig garðhanskana
    = She has just put on the gardening gloves

Literally, it is something like she is newly finished with putting on the gloves.

Why is er in the present tense if the action already happened?

Because Icelandic is describing her current state: she is now in the state of having just finished that action.

So the grammar is present tense, but the meaning is close to English has just done.

That is very normal with vera nýbúinn að.

What exactly does setja á sig mean?

It means to put on oneself.

The parts are:

  • setja = put, place
  • á = on
  • sig = oneself / herself / himself / themselves

So setja á sig is used for putting on things such as:

  • clothes
  • gloves
  • shoes
  • glasses

In this sentence, she is putting the gloves on herself.

Why is it sig and not hana?

Because Icelandic uses the reflexive pronoun sig when the object refers back to the subject of the same clause.

Here, hún is the subject, and she is putting the gloves on herself, so Icelandic uses sig.

  • á sig = on herself
  • á hana would usually mean on some other woman/girl

So sig is required here.

Why is it sig after á, and not sér?

Because á takes the accusative when there is movement onto something, and this expression involves that idea.

  • sig = accusative reflexive
  • sér = dative reflexive

In setja á sig, something is being put onto the person, so the accusative is used.

Why is garðhanskana in that form?

garðhanskana is the definite accusative plural form.

Base noun:

  • garðhanski = gardening glove

Forms:

  • garðhanskar = gardening gloves, nominative plural
  • garðhanska = gardening gloves, accusative plural
  • garðhanskana = the gardening gloves, accusative plural

It is accusative because it is the direct object of setja á sig.

Why does it say the gardening gloves? Could garðhanska also work?

Yes, garðhanska would be the indefinite form, meaning gardening gloves.

But garðhanskana means the gardening gloves, which suggests a specific pair that is known from the context.

Icelandic often uses the definite form naturally for concrete, familiar items in a situation like this.

What kind of word is garðhanski?

It is a compound noun.

  • garður = garden
  • hanski = glove

So garðhanski literally means something like garden-glove, or more naturally, gardening glove.

Compounds are extremely common in Icelandic.

Why is there no að after vill in vill vinna?

Because vilja normally takes a bare infinitive.

So Icelandic says:

  • vill vinna = wants to work
  • vill fara = wants to go
  • vill lesa = wants to read

Not vill að vinna.

The að earlier in the sentence belongs to a different pattern: nýbúin að + infinitive.

What does aðeins lengur mean here? Does aðeins mean only?

Here aðeins means a little or a bit.

So:

  • aðeins lengur = a little longer

The word aðeins can sometimes mean only, but in this sentence, with lengur, the meaning is clearly a bit longer.

Why is it lengur?

lengur is the comparative adverb meaning longer.

So:

  • lengi = for a long time
  • lengur = longer

That is why vinna aðeins lengur means work a little longer.

Why isn’t hún repeated before vill?

Because Icelandic often leaves out the subject in the second part of a sentence when it is the same as in the first part.

So this is normal:

  • Hún er nýbúin ... og vill vinna ...

You could also say:

  • Hún er nýbúin ... og hún vill vinna ...

But leaving out the second hún is smoother and very natural.

Could I also say setja garðhanskana á sig instead of setja á sig garðhanskana?

Yes, both are possible.

Icelandic has some flexibility in word order, and both versions can sound natural. The version in your sentence keeps á sig together as a unit, which is very common with verbs like this.

So both can work, but setja á sig garðhanskana is a very natural phrasing.

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