Breakdown of Ég er búinn að afrita minnisblaðið fyrir fundinn.
vera
to be
ég
I
að
to (infinitive marker)
fundurinn
the meeting
fyrir
for (on someone's behalf; as in "thanks for")
búinn
finished
minnisblaðið
the memo
afrita
to copy
Questions & Answers about Ég er búinn að afrita minnisblaðið fyrir fundinn.
Why is vera búinn að used here instead of the standard present perfect (ég hef afritað)?
In Icelandic, vera búinn að (literally 'to be finished to') is very commonly used to express that an action is already completed, similar to 'have already done' in English. While ég hef afritað is grammatically correct, ég er búinn að afrita sounds much more natural in daily speech to emphasize that the task is out of the way.
Does búinn change depending on who is speaking?
Yes! Because búinn is an adjective here, it must match the gender of the speaker. The speaker in this sentence is male, so he says ég er búinn. A female speaker would say ég er búin, and someone using the non-binary or neuter gender would say ég er búið.
How does the word minnisblaðið break down?
It is a compound word made of minni (memory) and blað (piece of paper), plus the neuter definite article -ið attached to the end. Together, minnisblað means 'memo' or 'memorandum'. It is in the accusative case here because it is the direct object of the verb afrita (to copy).
Why is fundinn in the accusative case?
The preposition fyrir can take either the accusative or the dative case. When it means 'for' (in the sense of being intended for an event or person), it triggers the accusative case. Since fundur (meeting) is a masculine noun, its definite accusative form becomes fundinn.
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