Breakdown of Hann var barinn á föstudaginn.
vera
to be
hann
he
á
onto / on / in (static location) / on (a day of the week)
föstudagur
Friday
berja
to hit, to beat
Questions & Answers about Hann var barinn á föstudaginn.
Why does barinn end in -inn here?
Barinn is the past participle of the verb berja (to hit or beat). In Icelandic passive sentences (like 'was beaten'), the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree with the subject in gender, number, and case. Since the subject hann is masculine, singular, and nominative, the participle takes the masculine nominative singular form barinn. If the subject were feminine, it would be hún var barin.
Why does the sentence use the definite article in föstudaginn ('the Friday') instead of just föstudag?
In Icelandic, when you talk about something happening on a specific day in the recent past or near future (like 'this past Friday' or 'this coming Friday'), you add the definite article to the day of the week. Á föstudaginn specifically means 'on the Friday just gone' or 'this coming Friday', making it clear from context which specific Friday you mean.
What case does the preposition á trigger in this sentence?
Here, á triggers the accusative case, which is why we see föstudaginn instead of the dative föstudeginum. When á is used with days of the week to express 'on a certain day', it always takes the accusative.
Why does the vowel change from 'e' in berja to 'a' in barinn?
This is a vowel shift that happens when conjugating certain verbs, similar to how 'sing' becomes 'sung' in English. The root vowel 'e' in the infinitive berja changes to 'a' in the past participle barinn.
Learn Hann var barinn á föstudaginn and more in Icelandic
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free