Breakdown of Eftir að hafa borðað fór hann að sofa.
borða
to eat
sofa
to sleep
fara
to go
hafa
to have
eftir
after / for (waiting for)
Questions & Answers about Eftir að hafa borðað fór hann að sofa.
Why is the verb inverted to fór hann instead of hann fór?
Why do we use the infinitive phrase að hafa borðað instead of a conjugated clause like "after he had eaten"?
When the subject of the action is the same in both parts of the sentence, Icelandic often uses an infinitive construction with eftir að instead of repeating the subject. You could also say Eftir að hann hafði borðað, fór hann að sofa, but this infinitive version is very natural and concise.
What verb form is borðað here?
It is the supine form (sagnbót), which looks exactly like the neuter singular form of the past participle. The auxiliary verb hafa always requires the main verb to be in the supine form, creating the perfect tense structure hafa borðað (to have eaten).
Why do we need the word að before sofa?
The verb fara (to go) requires the infinitive marker að when it is followed by another verb to indicate the purpose of the movement or the start of an action. The construction fara að gera eitthvað means "to go do something" or "to start doing something."
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