í gær / í dag / á morgun
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
í gær yesterday, í dag today, á morgun tomorrow. Careful: í morgun means this morning, but á morgun means tomorrow.
How It Works
Days.
- í fyrradag (the day before yesterday)
- í gær (yesterday)
- í dag (today)
- á morgun (tomorrow)
- hinn daginn (the day after tomorrow)
Parts of the day.
- í morgun (this morning, already past)
- í kvöld (this evening, tonight)
- í gærkvöldi (last night, yesterday evening)
- annað kvöld (tomorrow evening)
í morgun or á morgun? This is the classic trap. í morgun is a morning that has already happened today. á morgun is the next day. So Ég fór í sund í morgun means "I went swimming this morning", and Ég fer í sund á morgun means "I'm going swimming tomorrow".
Weeks and years.
- í síðustu viku (last week), í þessari viku (this week), í næstu viku (next week)
- í fyrra (last year), í ár (this year), á næsta ári (next year)
Word order. A time phrase can come at the end or the start. At the start, the verb comes second and the subject follows (verb-second word order): Á morgun förum við til Akureyrar. For the future, the present tense with a time word is enough (present tense for the future).
Examples (6)
- Í gær fór ég í bíó.
Yesterday I went to the cinema.
Word by Word: In yesterday went I into cinema.
The time phrase comes first, so the verb fór comes before ég.
- Hvað ætlarðu að gera í dag?
What are you going to do today?
Word by Word: What intend-you to do in day?
- Ég fer í sund á morgun.
I'm going swimming tomorrow.
Word by Word: I go into swimming on morning.
- Ég fór í sund í morgun.
I went swimming this morning.
Word by Word: I went into swimming in morning.
í morgun is this morning, which has already passed.
- Við borðum úti í kvöld.
We're eating out tonight.
Word by Word: We eat out in evening.
- Hún byrjaði í háskólanum í fyrra.
She started at university last year.
Word by Word: She began in the-university in former.
Common Mistakes
Using í morgun to mean tomorrow.
Ég fer til Akureyrar í morgun.Ég fer til Akureyrar á morgun.í morgun is this morning, already past. Tomorrow is á morgun.
Keeping the subject before the verb after a time phrase.
Í gær ég fór í bíó.Í gær fór ég í bíó.When the time phrase comes first, the verb must be second.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Time words build on á and word order.
Related Patterns
- Talking About the Future
Time words like á morgun let the present tense talk about the future.
Level 2 - Days of the Week
Naming a day instead: á mánudaginn.
Level 2 - íIn and into (Í)
Most of these phrases use í.
Level 1 - í tvö ár / eftir vikuFor a Period and in a While
How long something lasts and how soon it happens.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice í gær / í dag / á morgun in Bubblegum
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