Connecting Past Events with "Þegar"
The conjunction þegar means "when". It is perfect for connecting past events and telling stories. When the þegar clause is in the middle of the sentence, the main clause keeps its standard word order (subject followed by verb).
| I was happy when I saw the girl. | Ég var glaður þegar ég sá stelpuna. |
The V2 Rule: Starting with "Þegar"
If you start your sentence with a þegar clause, Icelandic's V2 (verb-second) rule applies. Because the entire þegar clause counts as the first block of information, the verb of the main clause must come immediately after the comma.
Notice how the verb comes right before the subject in the second half of these sentences:
| When I came home, the dog slept. | Þegar ég kom heim, svaf hundurinn. |
| When he saw grandpa, the youth came back. | Þegar hann sá afa, kom æskan aftur. |
Talking About Life Stages
Þegar is essential for recounting your personal history. You can use it to talk about where you were and what you did during different life stages, like being a teenager (unglingurinn) or going to high school (menntaskólinn) and university (háskólinn).
| When I was a teenager, I lived in Reykjavík. | Þegar ég var unglingur, bjó ég í Reykjavík. |
| When the boy was in high school, he read a lot. | Þegar strákurinn var í menntaskóla, las hann mikið. |
| When I went to the university, I lived in the city. | Þegar ég fór í háskólann, bjó ég í borginni. |
Milestones and Biographical Details
You will frequently use þegar to anchor major life events in time, such as moving (flytja) or when someone was born (fæðast).
| We moved to Iceland when she was born. | Við fluttum til Íslands þegar hún fæddist. |
As you tell more of your life story, you can recount major celebrations like a graduation (útskriftin) or a wedding (brúðkaupið), and reflect on the memories (minningin) they leave behind.
| When the graduation came, dad was very happy. | Þegar útskriftin kom, var pabbi mjög glaður. |
| When she came to the wedding, she laughed a lot. | Þegar hún kom í brúðkaupið, hló hún mikið. |
| The memory came when I saw the old picture. | Minningin kom þegar ég sá gömlu myndina. |