Ég elska daginn.

I

Breakdown of Ég elska daginn.

• elska: to love
• dagurinn: the day

Questions & Answers about Ég elska daginn.

Why is it daginn instead of dagur?

Icelandic uses grammatical cases. dagur (meaning day) is the nominative form, but here it appears in the accusative definite form daginn. When you use the verb elska (to love), the object takes the accusative case. The definite article in Icelandic attaches to the noun, so dagur + definite suffix becomes dagurinn in the nominative, but daginn in the accusative.

Why is there no separate word for the?

Icelandic doesn’t usually have a separate word like the English the. Instead, the language attaches the definite article as a suffix to the noun. So, dagur (day) plus those suffixes forms dagarnir (the days) in one case, or daginn (the day) in another, depending on the case and number.

Why is the sentence structured as Ég elska daginn rather than something else?

In Icelandic, the typical word order is still subject–verb–object, just like in English. So, Ég (I) is the subject, elska (love) is the verb, and daginn (the day) is the object.

Is the word elska used the same way as love in English?

Generally, yes. You use elska for strong affection or deep liking, much like English love. You’d use it in contexts such as Ég elska þig (I love you) or Ég elska súkkulaði (I love chocolate). It typically takes the accusative case for the object.

Are there alternative ways to say you like something less intensely?

Yes. You can use líka við instead of elska if you mean more along the lines of like rather than love. For example, Ég líka við daginn would sound more like I like the day, indicating a lesser degree of enthusiasm than Ég elska daginn.