Breakdown of Eftir að hafa unnið allan daginn var ég þreyttur.
vera
to be
ég
I
þreyttur
tired
vinna
to work (general labor, to do work)
dagurinn
the day (m)
hafa
to have
eftir
after / for (waiting for)
allur
all / everything / everyone
Questions & Answers about Eftir að hafa unnið allan daginn var ég þreyttur.
Why is the word order var ég instead of ég var?
Icelandic strictly follows the V2 (verb-second) rule in main clauses. The entire introductory phrase Eftir að hafa unnið allan daginn counts as the first grammatical unit. To keep the verb in the second position, the main verb var must come immediately after it, pushing the subject ég to the third position.
Why is hafa in the infinitive here rather than conjugated?
When the subject is the same in both parts of the sentence, the phrase eftir að (after) is typically followed by a verb in the infinitive. Here, it creates a perfect infinitive construction: hafa (to have) plus the supine unnið (worked), which directly matches the English structure 'after having worked'.
What dictates the accusative case for allan daginn?
Time duration, meaning how long an action lasts, takes the accusative case in Icelandic. Because the work lasted for the entire day, the masculine noun dagurinn (the day) and the word allur (all) are both declined in the accusative, becoming allan daginn.
Does the adjective þreyttur change depending on who is speaking?
Yes, predicate adjectives must agree with the subject in gender and number. Þreyttur is the masculine nominative singular form, so the speaker here is male. A female speaker would instead say var ég þreytt.
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