langa is the most natural everyday way to say "to want" in Icelandic — softer and more idiomatic than vilja. But it is built on a structure English has nothing like: it is an impersonal verb with an accusative subject. The person who does the wanting is not the grammatical subject in the nominative — they appear in the accusative (mig, þig, hann…), while the verb itself never changes person and sits frozen in the 3rd-person singular langar. Literally, mig langar is something like "it longs-me." Master this case frame and you've unlocked a whole family of Icelandic verbs that work the same way.
The accusative-subject paradigm
There is no person-by-person conjugation to memorise here, because the verb does not inflect for person — it stays langar no matter who is wanting. What changes is the case-marked experiencer in front of it. So the paradigm you actually need is the list of accusative pronouns:
| Experiencer (accusative) | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| mig (me) | langar | langaði |
| þig (you sg.) | langar | langaði |
| hann / hana / það (him/her/it) | langar | langaði |
| okkur (us) | langar | langaði |
| ykkur (you pl.) | langar | langaði |
| þá / þær / þau (them) | langar | langaði |
Read the whole right-hand column: langar … langar … langar. The verb genuinely does not move. The only thing that tells you who wants is the accusative pronoun.
| Principal parts (only 3sg forms exist) | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að langa |
| Present (3sg, the only form) | langar |
| Past (3sg, the only form) | langaði |
| Present subjunctive | langi |
| Past subjunctive | langaði |
| Supine | langað — mig hefur lengi langað… |
Why accusative? The logic of the experiencer
Think of langa as describing a feeling that happens to you rather than something you actively do. Icelandic marks that "happens-to" role with an oblique case — here the accusative. You are, grammatically, the target of the longing, not its agent. This is the same intuition behind English "it pains me" or "it strikes me" — except Icelandic uses the pattern for a core everyday verb. Once you feel mig langar as "longing comes over me," the accusative stops feeling strange.
Mig langar í ís.
I want (some) ice cream.
Langar þig í kaffi?
Do you want (some) coffee?
Hana langaði alltaf að verða læknir.
She always wanted to become a doctor.
langa í + accusative — wanting a thing
To want a thing (a noun), use langa í + accusative. The í here is fixed; it does not mean "into." The thing wanted also takes the accusative, so you may see two accusatives in a row: mig (experiencer) … í kaffi (thing).
Mig langar í nýjan síma en hann er rosalega dýr.
I want a new phone, but it's incredibly expensive.
Krakkana langar í pizzu í kvöld.
The kids want pizza tonight.
langa að + infinitive — wanting to do something
To want to do something, use langa að + infinitive.
Mig langar að læra að synda almennilega.
I want to learn to swim properly.
Okkur langar að bjóða þér í mat.
We'd like to invite you over for dinner.
langa vs vilja
Both translate as "want," but the case frames are opposite and the registers differ. vilja is a normal verb with a nominative subject (ég vil) and is more direct, firmer, more "I will have it." langa has an accusative experiencer (mig langar) and is softer, more like English "I'd like / I fancy." In a café you politely say mig langar í…; you state a firm decision or demand with ég vil….
Mig langar í te, takk.
I'd like some tea, please. (polite, soft)
Ég vil fá reikninginn núna.
I want the bill now. (firm, decisive)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég langar í kaffi.
Incorrect — the experiencer must be ACCUSATIVE, not nominative ég. Use mig
✅ Mig langar í kaffi.
I want some coffee.
❌ Við löngum að fara út að borða.
Incorrect — langa never inflects for person; it stays langar, and the subject is accusative okkur
✅ Okkur langar að fara út að borða.
We'd like to go out to eat.
❌ Mér langar í súkkulaði.
Incorrect — langa takes an ACCUSATIVE subject (mig), not a dative (mér). Dative is for líka, not langa
✅ Mig langar í súkkulaði.
I want some chocolate.
❌ Mig langar kaffi.
Incorrect — to want a thing you need the preposition í: langa í + accusative
✅ Mig langar í kaffi.
I want some coffee.
Key Takeaways
- langa is impersonal: the experiencer is accusative (mig, þig, hann…) and the verb is frozen at 3sg langar / langaði.
- The forms ég langa / við löngum do not exist — never give langa a nominative subject or a personal ending.
- langa í
- accusative = want a thing; langa að
- infinitive = want to do something.
- accusative = want a thing; langa að
- It is the accusative experiencer that distinguishes langa from dative-subject líka: mig langar, but mér líkar.
- Softer and more idiomatic than nominative-subject vilja; ideal for polite requests.
- Auxiliary is hafa: mig hefur alltaf langað… "I've always wanted…"
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- vilja (to want)A2 — Full conjugation of the preterite-present verb vilja (vil / vildi / vildu / viljað), its bare-infinitive complement, the accusative object, the volitional contrast with mig langar, and the polite past subjunctive vildi ('would like').