Breakdown of Ég hef drukkið vatnið úr skelinni síðan kókoshnetan datt.
ég
I
drekka
to drink
vatnið
the water
úr
out of
hafa
to have
detta
to fall
síðan
since (from the time when)
skelin
the shell
kókoshnetan
the coconut
Questions & Answers about Ég hef drukkið vatnið úr skelinni síðan kókoshnetan datt.
Why do we use the present perfect (hef drukkið) before síðan and the simple past (datt) after it?
Just like in English, when you use síðan (since) to connect two clauses, the ongoing action uses the present perfect (hef drukkið) and the triggering event uses the simple past (datt).
Does síðan need the word að after it to connect the two clauses?
No, síðan works perfectly fine on its own as a conjunction here. You might hear native speakers say síðan að in casual speech, but standard Icelandic uses just síðan to introduce the clause.
Why is the word for shell in the form skelinni?
The preposition úr (from/out of) always triggers the dative case. Skelinni is the dative, singular, definite (the) form of the feminine noun skel.
Datt looks quite different from its infinitive. What is the base verb here?
The infinitive is detta (to fall). It is a strong verb, meaning it changes its root vowel rather than taking a regular past tense ending. For a third-person singular subject like kókoshnetan, it becomes datt.
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