Breakdown of Vegabréfið var útrunnið, svo hún framlengdi það til áramóta.
vera
to be
hún
she
það
it / there (existential) / the one (n)
svo
then / so (therefore)
til
to
vegabréfið
the passport
framlengja
to extend
útrunninn
expired
áramótin
the New Year
Questions & Answers about Vegabréfið var útrunnið, svo hún framlengdi það til áramóta.
Why does the word for "New Year" end in -a here?
This is because of the preposition til, which is used here to mean "until" a certain time. The preposition til always forces the following noun into the genitive case. The base word is áramót (New Year), and its genitive plural form is áramóta.
Wait, is áramóta a plural word? "New Year" is singular in English.
Yes, the base word áramót is always plural in Icelandic! It literally translates to "years' meeting" (where the old year meets the new year). Since two years are meeting, Icelandic treats it as a plural concept.
How does the word útrunnið (expired) match with vegabréfið (the passport)?
útrunnið is the past participle of the phrasal verb renna út (to run out). Here it acts like an adjective describing the passport. Because vegabréf is a neuter noun in the nominative singular, útrunnið also takes the matching neuter singular ending -ið.
I see lengdi inside framlengdi (extended). Is this related to the word for "long"?
Exactly! The verb framlengja (to extend) is built from fram (forward) and lengja (to lengthen). So when she extended her passport, she literally "lengthened it forward".
Why do we use það for "it" in the second half of the sentence?
það is used because it refers back to vegabréfið, which is a neuter noun. In Icelandic, you must use the pronoun that matches the grammatical gender of the noun you are replacing. If the passport were a masculine word, you would have to use hann (he) for "it"!
Learn Vegabréfið var útrunnið, svo hún framlengdi það til áramóta and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free