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Questions & Answers about Við grillum fiskinn.
What does við mean here, and is it always written with the accent?
Við here means we.
Yes, it is normally written with ð and with the correct spelling. In Icelandic, spelling matters, because a small change can create a different word or just be incorrect.
Also, be careful: við can mean different things depending on context:
- við = we
- við can also appear as a preposition meaning against / with / by, depending on the sentence
In Við grillum fiskinn, it is clearly the pronoun we.
Why is the verb grillum and not grilla?
Because the verb has to agree with the subject.
The infinitive is að grilla = to grill.
But here the subject is við = we, so the verb changes to the 1st person plural form:
- ég grilla = I grill
- þú grillar = you grill
- hann/hún/það grillar = he/she/it grills
- við grillum = we grill
- þið grillið = you (plural) grill
- þeir/þær/þau grilla = they grill
So grillum means we grill.
What tense is grillum?