Continuous

Icelandic has a continuous aspect (also known as the progressive) that’s used to talk about something that’s happening right now. The continuous can actually be used with the past tense as well – although the meaning is not the same.

The continuous is the easiest way to form the present tense if you’re a beginner. It can’t be used with every verb however – see Present tense for an explanation.

Present

The present continuous is formed with vera (present) + að + infinitive:

Siggi er að kjafta.
Hvað ertu að elda?
Af hverju er hann alltaf að væla?

It really is that straightforward! 😍

Verbs that describe an unchanging state, like búa, liggja, sitja, sofa and standa, can’t be used in the continuous. Instead you have to use the simple present or present participle.

Past

The past continuous is formed with vera (past) + að + infinitive:

Hvað varstu að segja?
Ég var að missa vínglas í gólfið!

The meaning of the continuous changes somewhat when used in the past tense. The examples above don’t mean “What were you saying?” and “I was dropping a wine glass on the floor!” – actually they should be translated as “What did you just say?” and “I just dropped a wine glass on the floor!” 🍷.

However, if used with a time construction, they can be used to talk about an event that was happening at that time:

Ég man ekki hvað ég var að gera 11. september 2001.