Breakdown of Við höfum sofið á flekanum síðan við fundum eyðieyjuna.
við
we
sofa
to sleep
finna
to find
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
hafa
to have
eyðieyjan
the desert island
síðan
since (from the time when)
flekinn
the raft
Questions & Answers about Við höfum sofið á flekanum síðan við fundum eyðieyjuna.
Why does the sentence use the present perfect (höfum sofið) before síðan, but the simple past (fundum) after it?
This matches how "since" works in English! The conjunction síðan acts as a bridge between a state that started in the past and continues into the present (present perfect: við höfum sofið / we have slept), and the specific past event that triggered it (simple past: við fundum / we found).
Why is flekanum in the dative case here?
The preposition á (on) takes the dative case when it describes a stationary location—where something is currently happening. Because they are just sleeping on the raft, rather than moving onto it, the masculine word fleki (raft) gets the dative definite ending -num.
How does the word eyðieyjuna break down, and why is it accusative?
It is a compound of the prefix eyði- (deserted or empty) and the feminine noun eyja (island), capped with the accusative definite article -na (the). It takes the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb að finna (to find)—it is the thing being found.
I don't recognize fundum. What is the infinitive of this verb?
It comes from the strong verb að finna (to find). Like many strong verbs, it changes its root vowel in the past tense. For the first-person plural (við), the past tense form becomes fundum.
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