Breakdown of Hann hefur búið lengi í Suður-Ameríku.
hann
he
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
lengi
for a long time
hafa
to have
búa
to live (in a place), to dwell
Suður-Ameríka
South America
Questions & Answers about Hann hefur búið lengi í Suður-Ameríku.
Why use hefur búið instead of just the past tense bjó?
Just like in English, Icelandic uses the present perfect tense (hafa plus the supine form of the main verb) to describe an action that started in the past and continues into the present. Since he likely still lives there or just recently left, hefur búið (has lived) is the most natural choice.
How do you know when to use the adverb lengi instead of langt?
Lengi is an adverb specifically used for a long period of time (meaning "for a long time"). The word langt is used to describe the physical length of something or a long distance.
Why is Suður-Ameríku in the dative case?
The preposition í (in) governs the dative case when it describes a stationary location where something is happening or existing. If the sentence was about moving to South America, í would take the accusative case instead.
What is the dictionary form of Suður-Ameríku, and why does it end in -u here?
The base form is Suður-Ameríka. It is a weak feminine noun, which means it ends in -a in the nominative case, but changes to -u in all other cases (accusative, dative, and genitive). Since the preposition í requires the dative case here, the ending changes to -u.
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