Breakdown of Í morgun var ég mjög syfjaður og þreyttur.
vera
to be
og
and
ég
I
þreyttur
tired
mjög
very
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
morgunninn
the morning
syfjaður
sleepy
Questions & Answers about Í morgun var ég mjög syfjaður og þreyttur.
Why do we use í for "this morning", and how would this change if I meant "in the mornings" generally?
This relates exactly to how Icelandic handles time! The preposition í followed by the accusative case is used for specific past or present parts of the day. Therefore, í morgun specifically means "this morning" (the one that just happened). If you wanted to talk about a habitual action ("in the mornings"), you would switch to the preposition á and say á morgnana.
Why is the word order var ég instead of ég var?
This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. Because the sentence starts with the time phrase Í morgun (occupying the first position), the verb var must immediately follow it to stay in the second position. This forces the subject ég to invert and move to the third position.
The adjectives syfjaður and þreyttur both end in -ur. What does this tell us about the speaker?
The -ur endings tell us that the speaker is male. In Icelandic, adjectives following the verb "to be" must agree with the subject in gender and number. Since the speaker is a man, the adjectives are in the masculine nominative singular. A female speaker would drop the -ur and adjust the vowels, saying: Í morgun var ég mjög syfjuð og þreytt.
What is the exact difference in meaning between syfjaður and þreyttur?
While often paired together, they describe slightly different feelings. Syfjaður specifically means "sleepy" or drowsy—your body literally wants to sleep. Þreyttur means "tired" or fatigued, which could come from physical exertion or a long workday, even if you aren't ready to fall asleep. Using both emphasizes a total morning grogginess!
Learn Í morgun var ég mjög syfjaður og þreyttur 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