Describing Pregnancy
When talking about a pregnancy, you will often need to describe symptoms like nausea or sleepiness.
| Are you not pregnant? Yes, and the nausea is very bad. | Ertu ekki ólétt? Jú, og ógleðin er mjög slæm. |
The Present Perfect Continuous
To express that an action has been happening continuously over a period of time (the English "has/have been doing"), Icelandic combines two structures: the present perfect (vera búinn að) and the continuous (vera að).
The full formula is: [Conjugated vera] + [búinn] + að vera að + [infinitive verb]
Literally translating to "to be finished to be doing [something]", the first vera changes to match the subject. Búinn must agree in gender and number with the subject, just like an adjective. The rest of the phrase (að vera að + infinitive) never changes.
For a feminine subject like konan (the woman), use the feminine singular form búin:
| The woman has been vomiting a lot because of the nausea. | Konan er búin að vera að æla mikið út af ógleðinni. |
| The sleepiness is overwhelming, and I have been sleeping a lot during the pregnancy. | Syfjan er yfirþyrmandi og ég er búin að vera að sofa mikið á meðgöngunni. |
For a neuter subject like barnið (the child), use the neuter singular form búið:
| The child has been kicking a lot during this pregnancy. | Barnið er búið að vera að sparka mikið á þessari meðgöngu. |
Milestones and Advice
This aspect is common when giving advice about continuous symptoms, or describing ongoing preparations.
| You have to call the midwife if you have been vomiting for a long time. | Þú átt að hringja í ljósmóðurina ef þú ert búin að vera að æla lengi. |
| The midwife herself has been preparing the ultrasound for us. | Ljósmóðirin sjálf er búin að vera að undirbúa ómskoðunina fyrir okkur. |
When addressing a mixed-gender plural group (like a couple), remember that búinn takes the neuter plural form, which is also búin:
| Have you been discussing the sex together? | Eruð þið búin að vera að ræða kynið saman? |
Eventually, all that continuous waiting leads to an exciting moment back in the simple present tense:
| The midwife shows us the ultrasound and we hear the heartbeat. | Ljósmóðirin sýnir okkur ómskoðunina og við heyrum hjartsláttinn. |