komast

Getting Somewhere (Komast)

Level 3

Hvernig kemst ég á flugvöllinn? (How do I get to the airport?) komast is about getting there, or being able to make it.

How It Works

Forms.

  • Present: ég/þú/hún kemst, við komumst, þið komist, þau komast
  • Past: ég/þú/hún komst, við komumst, þið komust, þau komust
  • Supine: komist: Ég hef ekki komist í ræktina alla vikuna.

In a question, þú joins the verb: Kemstu? (Can you make it?)

Main uses.

  • Getting to a place: Hvernig kemst ég á flugvöllinn? Við komumst heim klukkan tvö.
  • Being able to come: Kemstu í afmælið á laugardaginn? Ég kemst því miður ekki.
  • Fitting into something: Það kemst ekki meira í töskuna.
  • komast að því að, to find out that: Ég komst að því að hann var farinn.

Where you get to. Like other verbs of motion, komast takes í and á with the accusative for the place you are going (see movement or location): á flugvöllinn, í tíma.

komast or geta komið? Ég kemst ekki and Ég get ekki komið (see geta) both mean I can't come. komast is shorter and very common in speech. Use plain koma when you simply mean come: Hann kemur á morgun.

Examples (6)

  1. Hvernig kemst ég á flugvöllinn?

    How do I get to the airport?

    Word by Word: How get I on the-airport?

  2. Ég komst ekki í tíma í gær.

    I couldn't make it to class yesterday.

    Word by Word: I got not in class in yesterday.

  3. Kemstu í afmælið á laugardaginn?

    Can you make it to the birthday party on Saturday?

    Word by Word: Get-you in the-birthday on the-Saturday?

  4. Við komumst loksins heim klukkan tvö.

    We finally got home at two o'clock.

    Word by Word: We got finally home the-clock two.

  5. Það kemst ekki meira í töskuna.

    Nothing more fits in the bag.

    Word by Word: It gets not more in the-bag.

  6. Ég komst að því að hann var farinn.

    I found out that he had left.

    Word by Word: I got at it that he was gone.

    komast að því að means to find out that.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the supine komist as a past tense.

    Ég komist ekki í gær.
    Ég komst ekki í gær.

    komist is the supine, used after hafa: Ég hef ekki komist. The past is komst.

  • Keeping the singular vowel in the plural.

    Við kemstum heim.
    Við komumst heim.

    The plural goes back to the vowel o and ends in -umst: við komumst.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

komastLevel 3Getting Somewhere (Komast)

Learn This First

komast builds on -st verbs and movement.

Words in This Pattern

komastkoma-st