Hann vinnur að áætluninni.

He works on the plan.

Breakdown of Hann vinnur að áætluninni.

• hann: he
• áætlunin: the plan
• vinna að: to work on

Questions & Answers about Hann vinnur að áætluninni.

What does vinnur mean in this sentence?

vinnur is the present tense of the verb vinna, which means “to work.” In Icelandic the simple present can translate both “works” and “is working.” So Hann vinnur að áætluninni means either He works on the plan or He is working on the plan.

Why is the preposition að used here, and what case does it take?

Here að is a preposition meaning “on” or “toward” in the sense of working on something. It always governs the dative case in Icelandic. That’s why the noun that follows—áætluninni—appears in the dative singular form.

How is the dative definite form áætluninni constructed from áætlun?

Icelandic marks definiteness with a suffix. For a feminine noun like áætlun (an -un stem), the definite dative singular ending is -inni. You take the stem áætlun-, add the article marker -in-, and then the dative ending -ni. Together they fuse as áætluninni.

Could I say Hann vinnur við áætlunina instead? What’s the difference between vinna að and vinna við?

Both can be used with “to work on,” but with a slight nuance. vinna að often focuses on working toward a goal or contributing to something (the plan in this case). vinna við emphasizes the activity or task itself (“to labour at the task”). In the context of “working on a plan,” vinna að áætluninni is more idiomatic.

How would you express “He worked on the plan” (past tense) in Icelandic?

You replace the present vinnur with the past tense vann. The sentence becomes: Hann vann að áætluninni.

Icelandic has a way to stress that an action is ongoing. How would you say “He is working on the plan” with that emphasis?

Use the periphrastic construction vera + að + infinitive. You get: Hann er að vinna að áætluninni, which clearly marks the continuous aspect.

Why isn’t there a separate word for “the” before áætluninni?

In Icelandic the definite article is not a separate word but a suffix attached to the noun. In this case the suffix -inni encodes both definiteness and the dative singular.