Breakdown of Pabbi hefur ekki séð þig lengi.
þú
you
ekki
not
sjá
to see
pabbinn
the dad (informal)
lengi
for a long time
hafa
to have
Questions & Answers about Pabbi hefur ekki séð þig lengi.
Why does ekki go between hefur and séð?
In the Icelandic present perfect tense, the negation ekki (not) usually goes right after the conjugated helper verb (hefur) and before the main action verb (séð). This is similar to English where "not" splits the two verbs in "has not seen".
Why is the pronoun þig used here instead of þú?
Þig is the accusative case of þú (you). The verb sjá (to see) forces its object into the accusative case because "you" are the one being seen. This rule applies even when the verb is in the present perfect form (hefur séð).
What form of the verb "to see" is séð?
It is the past participle (often called the supine form in Icelandic) of the verb sjá. Whenever you use the helper verb hafa (to have) to say someone "has done" something, the main verb must be in this supine form. For sjá, that form is always séð.
Why is the time adverb lengi at the very end of the sentence?
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