Present perfect

Frequently asked questions

When is Núliðin tíð used?

To say something has happened, Icelandic uses hafa + the supine (the -ð/-t form you met with geta ):

How is Núliðin tíð formed?

A small group of motion/change verbs uses vera instead of hafa, and then the form behaves like an adjective and agrees: Ég er kominn (m) / komin (f) - I have arrived; Hún er farin - she is now gone. Tip: the same motion verb can take either auxiliary - hafa for the experience ( ég hef farið til Akureyrar = I have been to Akureyri) and vera for the resulting state ( hún er farin = she is away now). Don't force vera onto every past action. English (have eaten) and German (habe gegessen) work the same way. Russian and Ukrainian have no perfect tense - they use verbal aspect instead - so for those speakers this is a genuinely new structure: hafa + supine, not a past form.

What are common mistakes with Núliðin tíð?

Using a past form instead of the supine after hafa (Ég hef *borðaði instead of hef borðað). - Using hafa where vera is needed for motion/change verbs (Ég hef *kominn -> Ég er kominn). - Not agreeing the vera-form for gender (kona segir 'ég er komin', not kominn). - Russian/Ukrainian speakers reaching for aspect instead of building hafa + supine.