Breakdown of Sendillinn er nýbúinn að afhenda innkaupapokann.
vera
to be
að
to (infinitive marker)
afhenda
to deliver
nýbúinn
just finished
sendillinn
the delivery person
innkaupapokinn
the shopping bag
Questions & Answers about Sendillinn er nýbúinn að afhenda innkaupapokann.
How does nýbúinn translate to "just handed over" in this sentence?
The phrase uses the recent perfect structure vera nýbúinn að followed by an infinitive verb. Nýbúinn literally translates to "newly finished." When combined with the infinitive að afhenda (to hand over), the whole phrase means "has just handed over" or "just finished handing over."
Why is the word nýbúinn used instead of the default form nýbúið?
In this structure, nýbúinn acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender, number, and case. Because the subject sendillinn (the delivery person) is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case, the masculine singular form nýbúinn is used. If the subject were feminine, like konan, it would change to nýbúin.
Does the verb afhenda have anything to do with the word for "hand"?
What makes up the long word innkaupapokann, and why is it in this specific form?
It is a compound of innkaup (shopping) and poki (bag), joined by a connecting -a-. It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb (it is the thing being handed over). The -nn at the end is the attached definite article, meaning "the bag" rather than just "a bag".
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