Breakdown of Hann labbaði í bæinn um helgina.
hann
he
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
bærinn
the town
labba
to walk (informal)
Questions & Answers about Hann labbaði í bæinn um helgina.
Why does labbaði end in -aði?
The verb is að labba (to walk), which is a Group 1 weak verb. To make the past tense for hann (he), we take the stem labb- and add the suffix -aði. This gives us labbaði (walked).
Why is 'town' written as bæinn instead of bær?
The base word for town is bær. Here, it has the definite article attached to mean 'the town'. We use the accusative form bæinn because the preposition í shows motion towards a destination.
How does um work in this sentence?
The preposition um has many meanings, including 'about' or 'around'. However, it is the standard word to use with time expressions like helgi (weekend) to mean 'over' or 'during' a period of time.
Why does helgina end with -na?
The base word for weekend is helgi. To say 'the weekend', we add the definite article. Because it follows the preposition um, the word must be in the accusative case. For this feminine noun, the attached article becomes -na, giving us helgina.