Breakdown of Hann er greinilega nýbúinn að fara í ræktina.
vera
to be
hann
he
fara
to go
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
ræktin
the gym
nýbúinn
just finished
greinilega
clearly
Questions & Answers about Hann er greinilega nýbúinn að fara í ræktina.
The current lesson is about using hljóta að for deductions. Why doesn't this sentence use it?
While hljóta að translates to "must" for logical certainty (like hann hlýtur að vera for "he must be"), this sentence shows another common way to express a strong deduction: using the adverb greinilega (clearly). Both are great tools for stating something you have figured out from the evidence.
How does the word nýbúinn work to mean "just gone"?
It is a combination of the prefix ný- (newly/just) and the word búinn (finished/done). To say you have just done something in Icelandic, you use the verb vera + nýbúinn að + an infinitive verb. Because hann is a masculine subject, nýbúinn takes the masculine singular form.
Why do we use the preposition í here instead of til?
When talking about going to specific places where you go inside or participate in an activity (like the gym, the swimming pool, or the cinema), Icelandic typically uses fara í + the accusative case. Fara til is mostly used when going to a person, a specific city, or a country.
What is the root word of ræktina?
The root word is rækt (gym), which is a very common everyday shortening of the word líkamsrækt (fitness/body-cultivation). Here it is in the definite accusative form (ræktina) because it follows the preposition í indicating motion.
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