Questions & Answers about Við bíðum lengur í dag.
Why is the word for 'longer' lengur and not lengri?
Because lengur is an adverb that describes time. You use it when talking about doing an action for a longer duration (like waiting). Lengri is an adjective, which you use to describe the physical length of a noun, like a "longer book" or a "longer road".
What is the base form of the comparative adverb lengur?
The base form is lengi, which means "for a long time". Adverbs of comparison in Icelandic are sometimes irregular, so lengi changes to lengur (longer) and its superlative form is lengst (longest/for the longest time).
The English translation says 'are waiting'. Where is the word for 'are'?
Icelandic doesn't have a separate present continuous tense (the "am/is/are doing" structure) in the same way English does. The simple present tense verb bíðum means both "we wait" and "we are waiting", depending on the context.
Why is dag used instead of dagur in the phrase í dag?
The phrase í dag literally means "in day" and translates to "today". The preposition í requires the noun that follows it to be in the accusative case for this time expression. Because dagur is a masculine noun, it drops the -ur ending to become dag in the accusative.
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