Past and Perfect of -st Verbs

Level 4

Við hittumst í gær. (We met yesterday.) Við höfum hist áður. (We have met before.)

How It Works

Past tense. Take the normal past form and add -st. An ending -r, -ð or -t drops, but -um keeps its m:

  • hittast (meet): ég, þú, hún hittist; við hittumst; þið, þau hittust
  • ferðast (travel): ég, þú, hún ferðaðist; við ferðuðumst; þið, þau ferðuðust
  • setjast (sit down): ég settist, við settumst, þau settust
  • komast (get somewhere): ég komst, við komumst, þau komust

Perfect. The perfect uses hafa + the -st supine: Ég hef ferðast mikið. To make the supine, drop the final ð, t or tt of the normal supine and add -st:

  • komið → komist, fundið → fundist
  • kynnt → kynnst, heyrt → heyrst, séð → sést
  • hitt → hist, sett → sest: Við höfum hist áður.
  • For verbs like ferðast and opnast (opnað → opnast), the supine looks just like the infinitive: Ég hef ferðast mikið.

Past perfect. hafði + supine works the same way: Þau höfðu kynnst í skóla.

Spelling. Write hist and sest, not hittst and settst.

Examples (6)

  1. Við hittumst í gær.

    We met yesterday.

    Word by Word: We met-each-other in yesterday.

  2. Hún settist við gluggann.

    She sat down by the window.

    Word by Word: She sat-herself by the-window.

    settist is the past of setjast (sit down).

  3. Hvað gerðist?

    What happened?

    Word by Word: What happened?

    gerðist is the past of gerast (happen).

  4. Ég hef ferðast mikið um Ísland.

    I have traveled a lot around Iceland.

    Word by Word: I have traveled much around Iceland.

    The supine ferðast looks just like the infinitive.

  5. Við höfum hist áður.

    We have met before.

    Word by Word: We have met before.

    The supine of hittast is hist.

  6. Þau höfðu kynnst í skóla.

    They had met at school.

    Word by Word: They had got-to-know-each-other in school.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping -st in the past.

    Við hittum í gær.
    Við hittumst í gær.

    Without -st, hitta needs an object: Við hittum Önnu. To say you met each other, keep -st: hittumst.

  • Using a past form after hafa.

    Ég hef ferðaðist mikið.
    Ég hef ferðast mikið.

    After hafa, use the supine. The supine of ferðast looks like the infinitive: ferðast.

  • Keeping tt in the supine.

    Við höfum hittst áður.
    Við höfum hist áður.

    The supine hitt loses its tt before -st, so it becomes hist.

How It Connects

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

Past and Perfect of -st VerbsLevel 4

Learn This First

-st past and perfect build on -st verbs and the perfect.

Words in This Pattern

-st