Breakdown of Þegar ég fór í háskólann, bjó ég í borginni.
ég
I
fara
to go
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
borgin
the city (f)
búa
to live (in a place), to dwell
þegar
when
háskólinn
the university
Questions & Answers about Þegar ég fór í háskólann, bjó ég í borginni.
Why is the word order bjó ég instead of ég bjó in the second half?
The first part of the sentence starting with Þegar acts as one big block of information. Because Icelandic strongly follows the V2 rule (the verb usually takes the second position), the main verb bjó must come right after the comma. It takes that second slot before the subject ég.
Both halves use the preposition í, so why does one use the accusative case and the other the dative case?
The preposition í takes the accusative case when showing movement or direction towards a destination, like going to the university (í háskólann). It takes the dative case when describing a fixed location, like living in the city (í borginni).
How is the word háskólann built?
The base noun is háskóli, which literally translates to "high school" but means "university" in Icelandic. Because it follows í for movement, it changes to the accusative form háskóla. Then we add the definite article ending -nn to mean "the university", resulting in háskólann.
Does Þegar always mean "when", or are there other words I should know?
Þegar is the correct word for "when" if you are connecting statements, such as past events (like in this sentence) or future events. However, if you are asking a direct question, like "When did you go?", you cannot use þegar; you must use the question word hvenær.
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