A1 · Sagnir · Verbs
Að búa — To live
Say where you live. Ask where others live. Learn the forms. Track your progress.
Að búa means “to live” in the sense of to reside — where your home is. Ég bý í Reykjavík. means “I live in Reykjavík.” In the present tense it has six forms — bý, býrð, býr, búum, búið, búa — and the one you need depends on who the sentence is about.
The six forms
The chart
How to read it
- There are 11 pronoun rows but only six different verb forms.
- Only þú takes the form ending in ð: þú býrð. Don’t drop the final ð.
- Hán refers to one person and takes býr, like hann and hún.
- Þau, þær and þeir all take búa.
Choosing the form
Good to know
Spelling at this level
If you write a sentence with eg instead of ég, or with p in place of þ (pu býrð for þú býrð), you still get full credit — and you will see the correct spelling. Only those substitutions are allowed. A wrong verb form is still wrong, and other letters and accents must be right: byrd is not býrð.
Full-chart practice
Fill in the verb for each pronoun. Check one row, or check every row you have filled in — empty rows are left out. Not scored.
Chart drill · 100 questions
100 blanks from the chart, shuffled: every pronoun nine times, and þið ten times. One verb at a time, until the forms stick. Scored.
Sentences
Each sentence is missing one form of búa. Choose it or type it, then press Check answer.
New practice set
Write the whole sentence
Read the English, then write the full Icelandic sentence. Not scored, and kept apart from the drills — this is where you practise spelling.
Vocabulary Orðaforði
Every pronoun, form and word used on this page. Search in Icelandic or English.
Results Niðurstöður
Chart drill and sentence scores are kept apart. Each score only describes the questions in that set, not your overall level.
Delete every saved set and score for this lesson on this device? This cannot be undone.