Breakdown of Ég hef ekki áhyggjur af því að ég hef leyfi og val.
og
and
ég
I
ekki
not
af því að
because
hafa
to have
leyfið
the permission
valið
the choice
áhyggjurnar
the worries
Questions & Answers about Ég hef ekki áhyggjur af því að ég hef leyfi og val.
Why do we use hef here for "have" instead of er með?
In Icelandic, you use the verb hafa (like hef here) for abstract things you possess, such as áhyggjur (worries), leyfi (permission), and val (a choice). If you were talking about having a physical object like a phone or a dog, you would usually use the phrase vera með (literally "to be with") instead.
How does af því að translate to "because"?
Af því að is the standard Icelandic phrase for "because". If you break it down word-for-word, af means "from" or "of", því means "it" or "that", and að means "that". Together, it literally means "from the fact that", which does the exact same job as "because" in English.
Is áhyggjur (worries) singular or plural here?
It is plural! Just like in English, Icelanders usually express this feeling in the plural form. The singular form is áhyggja (a worry), but the common set phrase you will hear and use is almost always hafa áhyggjur (to have worries).
Why is ekki placed directly after hef?
This follows the standard Icelandic word order rule where the main verb generally takes the second position in a sentence (often called the V2 rule). Ég is in the first position, so the verb hef must be second. The negative word ekki naturally drops in right after the verb it is negating.
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