Breakdown of Syfjan er yfirþyrmandi og ég er búin að vera að sofa mikið á meðgöngunni.
vera
to be
og
and
ég
I
mikið
a lot
sofa
to sleep
að
to (infinitive marker)
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
búinn
finished
yfirþyrmandi
overwhelming
syfjan
the sleepiness
meðgangan
the pregnancy
Questions & Answers about Syfjan er yfirþyrmandi og ég er búin að vera að sofa mikið á meðgöngunni.
How does the double að vera structure in ég er búin að vera að sofa work?
This is the Icelandic way to express the present perfect continuous, meaning "have been doing". It combines two structures you already know: vera búin að (to have done) and vera að (to be doing). Put together, ég er búin (I have finished) + að vera að sofa (being in the process of sleeping) creates "I have been sleeping".
Why is it búin instead of búinn here?
Yfirþyrmandi is an adjective here, but it doesn't have a typical ending. Does it change for gender or case?
No, it doesn't change! Words ending in -andi are present participles (similar to English words ending in "-ing", here meaning "overwhelming"). When used as adjectives, they are indeclinable, meaning they stay exactly the same regardless of the gender, number, or case of the noun they describe.
Why does meðgöngunni (the pregnancy) take the dative case after the preposition á?
The preposition á takes the dative case when it refers to a state of being, a fixed situation, or a period of time during which something happens. So, á meðgöngunni naturally translates to "during the pregnancy".
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