Breakdown of Herbergisþjónustan kemur eftir tvo klukkutíma.
koma
to come
tveir
two
klukkutíminn
the hour
eftir
after / for (waiting for)
herbergisþjónustan
the room service
Questions & Answers about Herbergisþjónustan kemur eftir tvo klukkutíma.
Why is there an -s- in the middle of herbergisþjónustan?
It is a compound noun combining herbergi (room) and þjónusta (service). In Icelandic, the first word in a compound noun is often put into the genitive (possessive) case to link them. The genitive of the strong neuter noun herbergi is herbergis, creating herbergisþjónusta (literally 'room's service'). The definite article -n is then added to the end for 'the'.
What about the compound word klukkutíma? Why doesn't it have a linking -s?
Klukkutími (hour) is formed from klukka (clock) and tími (time). Unlike strong nouns that often take an -s or -ar genitive ending, weak feminine nouns like klukka typically use their oblique form as the linking stem. The accusative, dative, and genitive form of klukka is just klukku, so they simply attach together without an extra consonant.
Why is it tvo klukkutíma instead of the nominative tveir klukkutímar?
The preposition eftir takes the accusative case when it is used to talk about time, meaning 'in' or 'after' a certain duration. Because klukkutími is a masculine noun, the number two must change to the masculine accusative tvo, and the noun takes its accusative plural form, klukkutíma.
The English translation says 'will arrive', but kemur means 'comes'. Why is the present tense used here?
Icelandic does not have a dedicated future tense built into its verbs. While you can use helper verbs, it is extremely common to just use the present tense for future events when a time phrase, like eftir tvo klukkutíma, makes it clear the action is happening later.
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