Breakdown of Maðurinn er ekki búinn að tæma þvottavélina.
vera
to be
maðurinn
the man
ekki
not
að
to (infinitive marker)
búinn
finished
tæma
to empty
þvottavélin
the washing machine
Questions & Answers about Maðurinn er ekki búinn að tæma þvottavélina.
Why does this sentence use er búinn að to mean 'has', instead of a word for 'have'?
In Icelandic, the most common way to say that someone 'has done' something is using the verb vera (to be) + búinn (finished) + að + the infinitive verb. So, Maðurinn er... búinn að tæma literally translates to 'The man is... finished to empty', which is how Icelanders express 'The man has emptied'.
Does the word búinn change depending on who is doing the action?
Yes! Even though it helps form a verb tense here, búinn is actually an adjective meaning 'finished' or 'done'. It must agree with the subject in gender and number. Since Maðurinn (the man) is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular form búinn. If the subject were feminine, like Konan (the woman), it would change to búin.
Where exactly should ekki (not) be placed in this type of sentence?
Why does the word for washing machine end in -ina here?
Þvottavél is a feminine noun meaning 'washing machine'. Because it is the direct object receiving the action of being emptied, it takes the accusative case. The -ina ending is the attached definite article for a feminine accusative noun, making it 'the washing machine'.
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