var að

Was Doing and Just Did (Var Að)

Level 3

var að + infinitive means was doing: Ég var að lesa þegar þú hringdir. It can also mean just did: Ég var að koma heim (I just got home).

How It Works

How it is built. Use the past of vera (var, varst, var, vorum, voruð, voru) + að + infinitive. Nothing agrees here, unlike búinn: hann var að lesa, hún var að lesa.

1. Was doing. The action was in progress at a past moment, often interrupted by another event in the simple past:

  • Ég var að lesa þegar þú hringdir. (I was reading when you called.)
  • Hvað varstu að gera í gær? (What were you doing yesterday?)
  • Ég var að vinna allan daginn. (I was working all day.)

2. Just did. With quick events and fresh news, var að means just:

  • Ég var að koma heim. (I just got home.)
  • Hún var að fá nýja vinnu. (She just got a new job.)

The phrase rétt í þessu (just now) makes this meaning clear: Hann var að fara rétt í þessu (He left just a moment ago).

Which meaning? If another past event interrupts, or a stretch of time is named, it means was doing. If the sentence reports news, it means just did. Sometimes both fit: Ég var að borða can mean "I was eating" or "I just ate".

Not with state verbs. As in the present, verbs of knowing and having, such as vita, eiga, kunna and þekkja, do not take var að. Use their simple past instead: Ég vissi svarið (I knew the answer). See var/hafði/átti/vissi.

Compare. For a result that was already complete, use var búinn að: Ég var búinn að borða (I had already eaten).

Examples (5)

  1. Ég var að lesa þegar þú hringdir.

    I was reading when you called.

    Word by Word: I was to read when you called.

    The reading was in progress; the call interrupted it.

  2. Hvað varstu að gera í gær?

    What were you doing yesterday?

    Word by Word: What were-you to do yesterday?

  3. Við vorum að horfa á fréttirnar.

    We were watching the news.

    Word by Word: We were to look at the news.

  4. Ég var að koma heim.

    I just got home.

    Word by Word: I was to come home.

    Here var að means just did.

  5. Hún var að fá nýja vinnu.

    She just got a new job.

    Word by Word: She was to get new work.

Common Mistakes

  • Using var að with a state verb such as vita.

    Ég var að vita svarið.
    Ég vissi svarið.

    vita describes a state, not an activity, so it does not take var að. Use the simple past vissi.

  • Leaving out að before the infinitive.

    Ég var lesa þegar þú hringdir.
    Ég var að lesa þegar þú hringdir.

    The construction always needs að between var and the infinitive.

How It Connects

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

var aðLevel 3Was Doing and Just Did (Var Að)

Learn This First

var að builds on vera að and var.

Words in This Pattern

varveraað