Breakdown of Hann hafði endurnýjað kortið fyrir áramót.
hann
he
kortið
the card
hafa
to have
áramótin
the New Year
endurnýja
to renew
fyrir
before (time)
Questions & Answers about Hann hafði endurnýjað kortið fyrir áramót.
This lesson is about using til for temporal deadlines. Why does this sentence use fyrir instead?
While til means "until" and triggers the genitive case, fyrir is used here to mean "before" a certain time. When fyrir is used for a time deadline like this, it always takes the accusative case. It is a great contrast to remember: use til to show an action continuing up to a point, and fyrir to show an action completed before a point!
How is the verb phrase hafði endurnýjað formed and why is it used here?
This is the past perfect tense, meaning "had renewed." It is built using the past tense of the helper verb hafa (here, hafði for "he") plus the supine form of the main verb, endurnýjað. It emphasizes that the renewal was already fully completed before the New Year deadline arrived.
What case is áramót in, and why is there no "the" attached to it?
It is in the accusative case, driven by the preposition fyrir. Icelandic often leaves out the definite article for general time markers and holidays. Even though we say "the New Year" in English, Icelandic just uses the bare plural noun áramót (which literally translates to "year-meets").
Why does kortið end in -ið if it is the object of the sentence?
Kortið (the card) is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. Because kort is a neuter noun, its accusative form is exactly the same as its nominative form. The -ið is just the attached definite article.
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