Við mætumst á veitingastað í kvöld.

We meet at a restaurant tonight.

Breakdown of Við mætumst á veitingastað í kvöld.

• við: we
• á: at
• veitingastaður: the restaurant
• í kvöld: tonight

Questions & Answers about Við mætumst á veitingastað í kvöld.

What part of speech is við, and can it be omitted?

við is the 1st person plural subject pronoun (we). In Icelandic, subject pronouns can often be dropped if the verb ending makes the subject clear, so you could say Mætumst á veitingastað í kvöld and still be understood, especially in casual speech.

What does mætumst mean, and why the ending -umst?

The infinitive is mætast, a reciprocal/middle-voice verb meaning to meet each other. The ending -umst marks 1st person plural present tense: við mætumst = we meet/we will meet.

Why is veitingastað in its bare form without an article?

Icelandic has no indefinite article. An indefinite singular noun stands alone (here veitingastað = a restaurant). To make it definite you'd add a suffix and use the dative: á veitingastaðnum = at the restaurant.

Why does the preposition á take the dative case with veitingastað?

When á indicates location (where something happens), it governs the dative. veitingastaður (restaurant) is a strong masculine noun whose dative singular is veitingastað.