Koma 
A) to come; 
B) to get (something somewhere), move (something)

KOMA has 2 middle voices 
 

 

  • Komast
    • = make it (to a place), arrive, reach. 
     
    Example: "Ég kemst ekki heim strax"
    (I wont be able to come 
    home just yet)
    Example: "Vélin komst aldrei á leiðarenda"
    (The plane never  
    made it to its destination)
    Reflexive OR passive
     
     

    LITERAL ANALYSIS: The verb KOMA can be either transitive or intransitive. The intransitive meaning is the common one identical to "come". It simply signifies to move in the direction of the speaker. Any being or even a dead object can do that. Pure involuntary movement is enough to qualify. The transitive version is similar, indicative of movement as well, but without any suggestion of movement to the speaker. Moreover, it is infused with intentionality. It indicates a force directed upon an object in order to move it in a specific direction. It is identical to "move" or, more precisely, to "get (something somewhere)". You can say "Koma bílnum af stað" (=to get the car running) or "Ég skal koma þér í Háskólanám" (= I will get you to study at the University). It is this *latter* meaning of KOMA which adopts the middle voice ending, using it reflexively. Komast therefore means to "get oneself somewhere". 

    NUANCES: This very clear meaning (= to get oneself somewhere) can be used in either middle voice form (KOMAST) or active form (KOMA SÉR). Despite being basically the same there is an important but subtle difference. The active form indicates a struggle towards the end whereas the middle voice indicates completion. Therefore, to differentiate more clearly, the meaning of the two is this: KOMAST is actually coming or arriving, whereas KOMA SÉR is driving oneself towards an end. Að koma sér heim, for example, means to "get going, to be on one´s way home", while komast heim means to "come home". This difference between the active and the middle voice form is quite frequent, and we will meet it again in other verbs, where similarly the active voice will indicate a focus on the striving, whereas the middle voice will feel more passive (the actual doing, completion). 

    FURTHER EXAMPLES:  
    "Ég verð að fara að koma mér" (= I must be going; I must get myself going)  
    "Ég verð að komast" (= I must make it). 
    "Ég kem mér sjálfur heim (= I´ll manage home by myself)"  
    "Ég kemst sjálfur heim (= I´ll make it home by myself).  
    "Að koma sér heim (= go home)" 
    "Að komast heim (=make it home)" 
    "Að koma heim (=come home)" 

    It is therefore difficult to say with certainty if the middle voice is passive or reflexive. It depends on your focus. Do you focus on the completion of the act (more passive) or the striving towards the goal (more reflexive)? To "make it somewhere" is a mixture of "passively and successfully coming" and "intentionally getting oneself toward a place". The reflexive meaning is stronger (to drive/get oneself somewhere), but it is definitely colored by the passive meaning (make it somewhere), as well as the closely related intransitive KOMA (come). So, two viewpoints merge in one verb form, making it especially expressive. 
     

     
     
     
     
     

     

  • Að komast að (einhverju)
    • = to realize, discover, 
    find out 
     
     
    EXAMPLE: "Ég komst fljótt að því hvar ég var staddur" (I realized soon where I was)
    EXAMPLE: "Enginn skal komast að leyndarmálunum okkar" (No one shall find out about our secrets)
      Reflective OR passive 
     
     

    LITERAL ANALYSIS: AÐ KOMAST AÐ is, similar to KOMAST, strongly based on the transitive meaning of KOMA (to get, bring, strive) rather than the intransitive (to come). The pronoun "að" indicates furthermore that you are approaching the object of the verb. We use it only figuratively though, for knowledge, "to find out, to discover", literally "to bring oneself towards something". As we all know, discovery is both a long struggle and hard hard work as well as being a momentary illumination, a flashing moment. It is fitting to let the reflexive and the passive merge in our verb for discovery KOMAST AÐ. We can imagine that you somewhat passively "come" towards something when you discover it (using the intransitive of "come" in a passive sense), but it is much more realistic to think of it as a struggle, linking the transitive verb (get, strive, make) with the reflexive, i.e. "get oneself towards..." Thus: KOMAST AÐ (=discover, find out). Which sense will be stronger, the passive or the reflexive, will wholly depend on the context. 

    FURTHER EXAMPLES:  
    "Ég komst að því að ég er kjáni 
    (= I realized I´m simple). 
    "Þú verður að komast að því í eitt skipti fyrir öll 
    (= you have to find out once and for all). 
     
     
     
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