Habitual actions (vanur að)

Expressing Habits with "vanur"

To say you are "used to" or "accustomed to" doing something, use the adjective vanur followed by and a verb in the infinitive.

Because vanur is an adjective, it must agree in gender and number with the subject. Here are its nominative forms:

GenderSingularPlural
Masculinevanurvanir
Femininevönvanar
Neutervantvön
I am used to eating a lot of protein.
Ég er vanur að borða mikið prótein.
She was used to drinking coffee as soon as she woke up.
Hún var vön að drekka kaffi um leið og hún vaknaði.

Present vs. Past Habits

Change the tense of the verb vera (to be) to switch between present and past habits.

She used to eat the carbohydrate early, but now she is used to fasting.
Hún var vön að borða kolvetnið snemma en núna er hún vön að fasta.

Plural Subjects and Agreement

For plural subjects, use vanir for an all-male group, vanar for an all-female group, and vön for a neuter noun (like börnin) or a mixed-gender group (like við).

They are used to baking sugar-free cakes.
Þær eru vanar að baka sykurlausar kökur.
The children were used to taking vitamins in the morning.
Börnin voru vön að taka vítamínin á morgnana.
We are used to cooking as soon as we wake up.
Við erum vön að elda um leið og við vöknum.

Questions and Negation

For questions, invert the subject and vera. For negation, place ekki after the verb.

Are you used to trying a new diet?
Ert þú vanur að prófa nýtt mataræði?
The patient is not used to digesting heavy food.
Sjúklingurinn er ekki vanur að melta þungan mat.

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