Verb Tenses

In Icelandic, there are 8 verb tenses/moods, called tíðir. There are two real tenses and six tenses/moods formed using the helping verbs hafa and munu

That's why, when you learn an Icelandic verb, you should also learn the past participle and the simple past form if they're irregular.

Here are the tenses for the verb gera:

Present nútíð:	Hann gerir það.	He does it.
Preterite (simple past) þátíð:	Hann gerði það.	He did it.
Perfect: núliðin tíð	Hann hefur gert það.	He has done it.
Pluperfect: þáliðin tíð	Hann hafði gert það.	He had done it.
Future 1: framtíð	Hann mun gera það.	He will do it.
Future 2: þáframtíð	Hann mun hafa gert það.	He will have done it.
Conditional mood 1 Skildagatíð	Hann myndi gera það	He would do it.
Conditional mood 2 Þáskildagatíð	Hann myndi hafa gert það	He would have done it

In Icelandic, the the preterite is preferred in speech and writing. The perfect is more used to say you have already done something (ég hef gert það) and you have been doing something (ég hef verið að gera það).

As you can see Skildagatíð and Þáskildagatíð are not considered tenses in English, but rather as subj

Ég gerði þetta í gær

I did this yesterday.

Ég fór í bíó í gær

I went to the cinema yesterday

Ég keypti mat áðan

I bought food just now

Ég hef gert þetta áður

I have done this before

Ég hef heimsótt í Skaftafell áður

I have visited Skaftafell before

Ég hef verið að reyna að ná í þig

I have been trying to reach you

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The perfect is formed with hafa and the past participle. As in English, there are many irregular past participles.

læra, lærði, hef lært (regular)
learn, learned, have learned

gera, gerði, hef gert (regular)
do, did, have done

sjá, sá, hef séð (irregular)
to see, saw, have seen

bíta, beit, hef bitið (irregular)
bite, bit, have bitten

fara, fór, hef farið (irregular)
go, went, have gone

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In English, the perfect describes past experiences. In Icelandic, like in English, you can add terms like þegar/nú þegar "already", nokkurn tíman „ever/at any time“ or áður "before" to stress further how something has previously happened (or failed to happen) in the past, but it is not required.

Ég hef lesið bókina. I have read the book.

Ég hef nú þegar lesið bókina.

I have already read the book.

Hefur þú séð eldgos?

Have you seen an eruption?

Hefur þú séð eldgos áður?

Have you seen an eruption before?

Hefur þú nokkurn tíman séð eldgos?
Have you ever seen an eruption?

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It's important to learn and be able to understand all of the Icelandic verb tenses, however, the vast majority of speech is in either the present or preterite, with the future barely trailing after it.

Note that four out of those six tenses use a helping verb hafa or munu. It's imperative to memorize all the forms of these two verbs quickly since they're used so frequently.

Þið hafið aldrei komið á Seyðisfjörð
You guys have never been to Seyðisfjörður.

Þið munuð aldrei koma á Seyðisfjörð.

You guys will never come to Seyðisfjörður.

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