Subjunctive in Wishes, Hopes, and Commands | Icelandic Grammar

This page covers the optative uses of the subjunctive — the mood of wanting something to be so: wishes, hopes, blessings, curses, and third-person commands. These are conceptually unified. In every case the speaker is reaching for a state of affairs that is not (yet) a fact — something desired, hoped for, invoked, or commanded — which is exactly the subjunctive's home territory. (Hypothetical conditionals and reported speech are separate triggers with their own pages; this page deliberately leaves them aside.) The headline insight, which demystifies the whole mood, is that many everyday set phrases an Icelander says dozens of times a day are frozen present subjunctives — so you have been "using the subjunctive" since your first week, before you ever studied it.

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The optative test: if the verb describes something you want to become true — a hope, a wish, a blessing, a let-him-come command — reach for the subjunctive. The present subjunctive handles still-open wishes (komi, gangi, lifi); the past subjunctive marks the wish you know won't come true (væri, gæti).

Verbs of hoping: vona, óska — present subjunctive

Verbs of hoping, wishing, and desiring put their að-clause into the subjunctive, because what you hope for is by definition not yet established. The everyday verb is vona ("to hope"); more formal is óska ("to wish"). With an open hope — something still possible — the clause takes the present subjunctive.

Ég vona að allt gangi vel í prófinu á morgun.

I hope everything goes well in the exam tomorrow. — vona að → present subjunctive 'gangi' (from ganga), not indicative 'gengur'.

Ég vona bara að þau komi á réttum tíma.

I just hope they come on time. — present subjunctive 'komi'; the arrival is still open.

Við óskum þess að þér batni sem fyrst.

We hope you get better soon. (formal) — óska þess að + present subjunctive 'batni' (impersonal 'recover'); a standard get-well wish.

The contrast with English is sharp here: English keeps the indicative ("I hope everything goes well," "I hope they come"), so English speakers default to the Icelandic indicative gengur, koma — a clear, audible error. The hope frames the clause as non-factual, and Icelandic marks that with -i.

Verbs of fearing: óttast, hræðast

Mirror-image of hoping, verbs of fearing also take a subjunctive complement — what you fear is likewise unrealised, dreaded rather than asserted. óttast and hræðast ("to fear, be afraid that") behave just like vona, only the emotional sign is flipped.

Ég óttast að það verði of seint þegar við komum.

I'm afraid it'll be too late by the time we get there. — óttast að → present subjunctive 'verði' (from verða).

Hún hræðist að hann skilji þetta ekki.

She's afraid he won't understand this. — hræðast að → subjunctive 'skilji', a dreaded (non-asserted) outcome.

Wishing the impossible: vilja / vildi að + PAST subjunctive

Now the most expressive corner. To say "I wish (that)…" — an English construction that already feels subjunctive ("I wish I were there") — Icelandic uses vilja in its past form vildi plus a clause in the past subjunctive. The combination is not really past in time; the past subjunctive here signals counterfactuality — that the wish is contrary to fact, that things are not that way. This is the difference between hoping (open, present subjunctive) and wishing (unattainable, past subjunctive), and it is precisely the nuance English speakers lose.

Ég vildi að þú værir hér hjá mér núna.

I wish you were here with me right now. — vildi að + past subjunctive 'værir'; the wish is counterfactual — you aren't here.

Ég vildi að ég gæti hjálpað þér meira.

I wish I could help you more. — past subjunctive 'gæti' (from geta); the unattainable wish, 'but I can't'.

Hún vildi óska þess að hún hefði aldrei sagt þetta.

She wished she had never said that. (literary/heightened) — past subjunctive 'hefði' for a regret about the unchangeable past.

The logic to internalise: present subjunctive = still possible (ég vona að þú komir "I hope you come"), but past subjunctive after vildi = known not to be so (ég vildi að þú kæmir "I wish you would come [but you won't]"). Choosing the wrong tense doesn't just sound off — it changes whether you're expressing live hope or wistful impossibility.

Frozen optative formulae — the subjunctive you already use

Here is the demystifying point. A large stock of everyday set phrases are frozen present subjunctives — third-person optatives that have survived intact into modern speech. Once you see them as subjunctives, the mood stops feeling like an exam topic and starts feeling like something you already do. The classic example is the response you give when serving food:

— Takk fyrir matinn! — Verði þér að góðu!

— Thanks for the meal! — You're welcome! / May it do you good! — 'verði' is the present subjunctive of verða; literally 'may it become to-you to good'.

Guð blessi þig og varðveiti.

God bless and keep you. (set phrase / religious register) — 'blessi' and 'varðveiti' are present subjunctives expressing a blessing.

Guð hjálpi mér, ég gleymdi veskinu heima!

God help me, I left my wallet at home! — exclamatory 'guð hjálpi mér', a frozen present-subjunctive curse-on-oneself.

These are not learned as grammar; native speakers absorb them as units. But every one of them is the optative subjunctive — verði, blessi, varðveiti, hjálpi all carry the -i of the present subjunctive. Naming this for yourself is the shortcut: you already pronounce these forms fluently, so the subjunctive is not foreign machinery, just a pattern you can now extend.

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The insight competitors skip: phrases like verði þér að góðu, guð blessi þig, and guð hjálpi mér are frozen present subjunctives. You already say them. The subjunctive isn't a new system to install — it's a pattern you've been using since day one; the grammar lesson just makes it conscious and productive.

Blessings, curses, and 'long live…'

The optative is the grammar of invocations — calling down good or ill on someone, or proclaiming "long live X." These survive chiefly in elevated, ceremonial, or set-phrase register, but they are instantly recognisable to any Icelander.

Lengi lifi lýðveldið!

Long live the republic! — 'lifi' is the present subjunctive of lifa; the classic optative proclamation.

Megi gæfan fylgja þér á nýju ári.

May good fortune follow you in the new year. (formal / greeting-card register) — 'megi' (present subjunctive of mega) heading an optative blessing.

Bölvaður sé sá sem svíkur vini sína.

Cursed be the one who betrays his friends. (literary/biblical) — optative 'sé' (present subjunctive of vera) in a curse.

Third-person imperatives: komi sá sem vill

Icelandic has no dedicated third-person imperative form, so it presses the present subjunctive into that service: "let him do X," "may they Y." This is how you issue a command or permission to a third party — komi sá sem vill "let him come who wishes," fari þeir sem vilja "let those go who want to." It is formal or set-phrase in flavour but fully grammatical.

Komi sá sem vill, dyrnar standa opnar.

Let whoever wishes come; the doors stand open. — third-person imperative via present subjunctive 'komi'.

Hver sem syndgar, kasti fyrsta steininum.

Let whoever is without sin cast the first stone. (biblical allusion) — 'kasti', present subjunctive as a third-person command.

For first-person-plural "let's…", Icelandic instead uses the ordinary indicative/subjunctive 1pl form (förum! "let's go," gerum þetta! "let's do this") — covered on the imperative page; here the point is just that the third-person "let him/them…" is built on the present subjunctive.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ég vona að þú kemur á morgun.

Incorrect — vona að takes the present subjunctive: 'komir', not the indicative 'kemur'.

✅ Ég vona að þú komir á morgun.

I hope you come tomorrow.

A hope is non-factual, so the að-clause goes into the present subjunctive (komir). The indicative kemur asserts the visit as a fact, which a hope cannot.

❌ Ég óska þess að allt gengur vel.

Incorrect — óska þess að requires the subjunctive: 'gangi', not the indicative 'gengur'.

✅ Ég óska þess að allt gangi vel.

I hope everything goes well. (formal)

óska þess að "wish that" frames an unrealised outcome; the present subjunctive gangi marks it.

❌ Ég vildi að þú ert hér.

Two errors — 'I wish' takes vildi + the PAST subjunctive: 'værir', not the present indicative 'ert'. The wish is counterfactual.

✅ Ég vildi að þú værir hér.

I wish you were here.

The "I wish (but it isn't so)" sense needs the past subjunctive værir. Using a present form loses the crucial counterfactual nuance — you'd be hoping, not wishing.

❌ Ég vildi að ég get hjálpað meira.

Wrong tense and mood — an unattainable wish needs the past subjunctive of geta: 'gæti', not the indicative 'get'.

✅ Ég vildi að ég gæti hjálpað meira.

I wish I could help more.

gæti (past subjunctive of geta) carries the "I can't, but I wish I could" meaning; get would assert the ability as real.

❌ Verður þér að góðu.

Wrong mood for the formula — the fixed reply is the SUBJUNCTIVE 'verði þér að góðu', not the indicative 'verður'.

✅ Verði þér að góðu.

You're welcome. / May it do you good.

This set phrase is a frozen present subjunctive (verði); the indicative verður breaks the formula and sounds wrong to any native ear.

Key Takeaways

The optative subjunctive covers wishes, hopes, fears, blessings, curses, and third-person commands — all cases of wanting an as-yet-unrealised state.
Verbs of hoping/fearing (vona, óska, óttast, hræðast) + að take the present subjunctive: ég vona að allt gangi vel.
"I wish" is vildi að + PAST subjunctive for the counterfactual/unattainable wish: ég vildi að þú værir hér, ég vildi að ég gæti. Present vs past subjunctive = open hope vs impossible wish.
Many everyday set phrases are frozen present subjunctives — verði þér að góðu, guð blessi þig, guð hjálpi mér, lengi lifi… — so you already use the mood before studying it.
The third-person imperative ("let him come") is the present subjunctive: komi sá sem vill.

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