Breakdown of Hann er vanur að kaupa vítamín hér.
vera
to be
hér
here
hann
he
kaupa
to buy
að
to (infinitive marker)
vanur
used to
vítamínið
the vitamin
Questions & Answers about Hann er vanur að kaupa vítamín hér.
Why do we use að kaupa (to buy) instead of a form matching the English "-ing" (buying)?
In English, we say "used to buying", using an "-ing" form. Icelandic doesn't use present participles this way. Instead, the adjective vanur is always followed by að and the infinitive of the verb, making að kaupa the only correct choice.
Because vanur is an adjective, does it change based on the subject?
Yes, it must agree with the subject in gender and number. Since the subject is hann (he), it takes the masculine singular nominative form vanur. If the subject were hún (she), it would change to vön (Hún er vön að...), and for a plural mixed group, it would be vön as well (Þau eru vön að...).
If I wanted to say "He used to buy vitamins here" (as a past habit he no longer does), how would this sentence change?
You would simply change the verb vera (to be) to the past tense, making it Hann var vanur að kaupa. In Icelandic, this translates smoothly to both "He was accustomed to buying" and the English past habitual "He used to buy."
How can I tell if vítamín is singular or plural here?
Vítamín is a neuter noun, and for most neuter nouns, the singular and plural forms are identical in the nominative and accusative cases. Context is your only clue! Here, buying "vitamins" in general makes more sense than buying a single "vitamin," so we translate it as a plural.
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