mun hafa / á að vera

Reported and Probable (Mun, Á Að)

Level 5

Hann mun hafa farið í gær. (He is said to have left yesterday.) Hún á að vera mjög góður kokkur. (She is supposed to be a very good cook.)

How It Works

mun: probably, reportedly.

  • Þetta mun vera elsta hús bæjarins. (This is said to be the oldest house in town.)
  • Hann mun hafa farið í gær. (He apparently left yesterday.)

This mun is formal and is often used in news. The plural is munu: Þeir munu hafa farið.

á að: people say, it is supposed to.

  • Myndin á að vera mjög góð. (The film is supposed to be very good.)
  • Veðrið á að verða gott á morgun. (The weather is supposed to be good tomorrow.)
  • Hann á að hafa sagt þetta. (He is supposed to have said this.) The speaker is only passing it on.

Past events. For something that happened earlier, use hafa + supine after mun or á að: mun hafa farið, á að hafa sagt.

Two meanings of á að. á að can also mean "should": Þú átt að vera heima (You should be at home). Context tells you which one is meant. The past átti að vera means "was supposed to be". Compare víst and kannski/líklega, which also mark what you are not sure of.

Examples (6)

  1. Hann mun hafa farið í gær.

    He is said to have left yesterday.

    Word by Word: He will have gone in yesterday.

  2. Þetta mun vera elsta hús bæjarins.

    This is said to be the oldest house in town.

    Word by Word: This will be oldest house of-the-town.

  3. Hún á að vera mjög góður kokkur.

    She is supposed to be a very good cook.

    Word by Word: She owns to be very good cook.

    góður agrees with kokkur, which is a masculine noun.

  4. Myndin á að vera mjög góð.

    The film is supposed to be very good.

    Word by Word: The-film owns to be very good.

  5. Veðrið á að verða gott á morgun.

    The weather is supposed to be good tomorrow.

    Word by Word: The-weather owns to become good on morning.

  6. Hann á að hafa sagt þetta á fundinum.

    He is supposed to have said this at the meeting.

    Word by Word: He owns to have said this at the-meeting.

    The speaker only passes the claim on.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a plain infinitive for something in the past.

    Hann mun fara í gær.
    Hann mun hafa farið í gær.

    mun fara means "will go". For a past event, use hafa + supine: mun hafa farið.

  • Using the past tense instead of the supine.

    Hann mun hafa fór í gær.
    Hann mun hafa farið í gær.

    After hafa, use the supine farið, not the past tense fór.

How It Connects

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

mun hafa / á að veraLevel 5Reported and Probable (Mun, Á Að)

Learn This First

mun and á að build on munu, eiga að and the perfect.

Words in This Pattern

munmunuáeigaaðhafa