óska ("to wish") is a regular weak Class-1 verb with a thoroughly irregular case frame — and that frame is the whole reason this card exists. When you wish someone something, the recipient goes in the dative and the thing wished goes in the genitive: óska þér góðs gengis "(I) wish you good luck." This dative-plus-genitive pattern is the single most useful — and most omitted — fact about óska, and it powers the everyday congratulation óska þér til hamingju. The conjugation itself is easy: an ó-stem, so like nota and vona it takes no u-umlaut (óskum, never öskum).
Conjugation
Class: weak, Class 1 (the -aði preterite). Auxiliary: hafa — ég hef óskað "I have wished."
| Principal parts | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | að óska |
| 3sg present | óskar |
| 3sg past | óskaði |
| Supine | óskað |
| Person | Present (nútíð) | Past (þátíð) |
|---|---|---|
| ég | óska | óskaði |
| þú | óskar | óskaðir |
| hann / hún / það | óskar | óskaði |
| við | óskum | óskuðum |
| þið | óskið | óskuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | óska | óskuðu |
| Person | Present subjunctive | Past subjunctive |
|---|---|---|
| ég | óski | óskaði |
| þú | óskir | óskaðir |
| hann / hún / það | óski | óskaði |
| við | óskum | óskuðum |
| þið | óskið | óskuðuð |
| þeir / þær / þau | óski | óskuðu |
| Non-finite & imperative | |
|---|---|
| Imperative (þú) | óskaðu |
| Imperative (þið) | óskið! |
| Supine | óskað |
| Past participle (m/f/n) | óskaður / óskuð / óskað |
| Middle voice (miðmynd) | óskast — "to be requested/wanted" (e.g. in ads: óskast til kaups) |
The signature frame: óska + dative person + genitive thing
This is the heart of the verb. To wish someone something, put the person in the dative and the thing in the genitive:
óska + einhverjum (dat.) + einhvers (gen.)
So óska þér góðs gengis is literally "wish to-you of-good luck." Two different cases on the two objects is unusual from an English point of view — English just lines both up after the verb ("wish you good luck"), with no marking at all. In Icelandic you must feel the recipient as a dative and the wished-for thing as a genitive. This is the same logic as biðja einhvern einhvers and other "ask/wish from someone" verbs: the genitive marks the thing requested or desired.
The reason to memorise this frame as a unit rather than reasoning it out each time is that the genitive surfaces in unexpected places — adjectives and nouns alike take genitive endings you would not predict from the dictionary form. góð ferð "a good trip" becomes góðrar ferðar; allt hið besta "all the best" becomes alls hins besta. Learners who try to wish someone something by stitching the words together in the nominative end up with a sentence that sounds, to an Icelandic ear, like a foreigner reciting a phrasebook. The set phrases below carry the correct case for you, which is exactly why fluent speakers lean on them.
Ég óska þér góðs gengis í prófinu.
I wish you good luck on the exam.
Við óskum ykkur alls hins besta.
We wish you all the very best.
Hún óskaði mér gleðilegra jóla.
She wished me a merry Christmas.
óska e-m til hamingju — "congratulate"
The fixed congratulation is óska einhverjum til hamingju (með eitthvað) — "wish someone toward happiness (on something)," i.e. "congratulate." Note the structure: the person stays dative (óska þér), and the occasion follows með + dative. This phrase is in constant use at birthdays, weddings, graduations, and new jobs.
Til hamingju með afmælið! Ég óska þér alls góðs.
Happy birthday! I wish you all the best.
Allir óskuðu þeim til hamingju með brúðkaupið.
Everyone congratulated them on the wedding.
óska eftir + dative — "request / ask for"
In a more formal register, óska eftir + dative means "request, ask for" — what you see in job ads, official notices, and announcements. Here the case is dative, governed by eftir, and the meaning shifts from a warm "wish" to a neutral "request."
Fyrirtækið óskar eftir starfsmanni í fullt starf.
The company is seeking a full-time employee.
Lögreglan óskar eftir upplýsingum frá almenningi.
The police are requesting information from the public.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ég óska þér góða ferð.
Incorrect — the thing wished must be genitive, not accusative: góðrar ferðar
✅ Ég óska þér góðrar ferðar.
I wish you a good trip.
❌ Ég óska þig til hamingju.
Incorrect — the person is dative, not accusative: óska þér til hamingju
✅ Ég óska þér til hamingju.
Congratulations (I congratulate you).
❌ Við öskum þér alls góðs.
Incorrect — óska has an ó-stem, so no u-umlaut; the 'we' form is óskum, never öskum
✅ Við óskum þér alls góðs.
We wish you all the best.
❌ Fyrirtækið óskar eftir starfsmann.
Incorrect — óska eftir governs the dative, not the accusative: eftir starfsmanni
✅ Fyrirtækið óskar eftir starfsmanni.
The company is seeking an employee.
Key Takeaways
- óska / óskar / óskaði / óskað — a regular weak Class-1 verb; past in -aði.
- No u-umlaut: the ó-stem stays ó throughout — óskum, óskuðum, never öskum.
- Signature frame: óska
- dative person
- genitive thing — óska þér góðs gengis.
- dative person
- óska e-m til hamingju (með e-u) = "congratulate" — person stays dative.
- óska eftir
- dative (formal) = "request, ask for" — common in ads and notices.
- Auxiliary is hafa: ég hef óskað.
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- Social Formulae and Set PhrasesA2 — The frozen social phrases of daily Icelandic — takk fyrir mig, gangi þér vel, verði þér að góðu, til hamingju með — and the hidden grammar inside them: most are frozen subjunctive optatives, so you start 'using the subjunctive' long before you study it.