Breakdown of Ég hef örvænt mikið síðan einangrunin byrjaði.
ég
I
mikið
a lot
byrja
to start
hafa
to have
síðan
since (from the time when)
örvænta
to despair
einangrunin
the isolation
Questions & Answers about Ég hef örvænt mikið síðan einangrunin byrjaði.
Why is the first half of the sentence in the present perfect (hef örvænt) while the clause after síðan is in the past tense (byrjaði)?
This is the standard way to use síðan (since) when talking about an ongoing situation. The main clause uses the present perfect to show what has been happening, and the síðan clause uses the past tense to pinpoint the exact moment in the past when that action began.
What is the infinitive form of örvænt?
The infinitive is örvænta (to despair). After the helping verb hafa (here as hef), we use the supine form, which for this verb is örvænt.
How can we tell the gender of einangrunin?
The base word is einangrun. Nouns ending in -un are almost always feminine. You can also tell it is feminine here because the attached definite article is -in (einangrunin = the isolation).
Why is mikið in the neuter form here?
Here, mikið is acting as an adverb describing how much the person despaired. When adjectives are used as adverbs in Icelandic, they take the neuter singular form.
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