Question 1

Why is að used before kaupa?

Accepted Answer

In Icelandic, when one verb (here gleymi, “I forget”) is followed by another verb in its basic form, you introduce the second with að, very much like English uses to in “to buy.” Without að, the infinitive kaupa cannot link to gleymi.

Question 2

What is gleymi, and how do you conjugate gleyma?

Accepted Answer

Gleymi is the first‐person singular present of gleyma (“to forget”). Present‐tense conjugation of gleyma:  
• Ég gleymi  
• Þú gleymir  
• Hann/hún/það gleymir  
• Við gleymum  
• Þið gleymið  
• Þeir/þær/þau gleyma

The past (preterite) for “I forgot” is gleymdi.

Question 3

What case is mjólk in, and why is there no article before it?

Accepted Answer

Here mjólk (“milk”) is the direct object, so it takes the accusative case. In feminine singular, mjólk has identical form in nominative and accusative, so you won’t see a change. Icelandic does not use an indefinite article with uncountable or mass nouns—just as English says “buy milk,” not “buy a milk.” If you wanted “the milk,” you’d say mjólkina.

Question 4

Why is stundum placed between gleymi and að, and can it move?

Accepted Answer

Stundum (“sometimes”) is an adverb of frequency. In Icelandic main clauses (a V2 language), adverbs like stundum typically go right after the finite verb:  
• Ég (subject) → gleymi (verb) → stundum (adverb) → að kaupa mjólk (remainder).

You can also front the adverb:  
• Stundum gleymi ég að kaupa mjólk.  
But placing it after the infinitive or at the very end sounds less natural.

Question 5

Does Icelandic follow verb‐second (V2) word order, and how does that work here?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In a simple declarative clause, exactly one element comes first (subject, adverb, object…), then the finite verb is second, then the rest:  
• Ég (1st) → gleymi (2nd) → stundum að kaupa mjólk (3rd+).  
If you start with an adverb (Stundum), the verb still stays in position two:  
• Stundum (1st) → gleymi (2nd) → ég að kaupa mjólk (3rd+).

Question 6

Can the subject pronoun ég be dropped in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Icelandic is pro-drop. In spoken or very context-clear sentences you could say Gleymi stundum að kaupa mjólk and a listener will understand “I sometimes forget to buy milk.” In isolated written sentences, keeping ég avoids any doubt about who’s doing the forgetting.

Question 7

How do you say this sentence in the past tense?

Accepted Answer

Replace gleymi with its past form gleymdi (1st-person preterite):  
Ég gleymdi stundum að kaupa mjólk.  
That means “I sometimes forgot to buy milk.”

Question 8

How do you pronounce Ég gleymi stundum að kaupa mjólk?

Accepted Answer

Broad IPA: [jɛːɣ ˈɣleiːmɪ ˈstʏntʏm at ˈkʰœiːpa ˈmjoulk]  
Rough English‐style guide:  
- Ég: “yegh” (g = soft voiced “gh”)  
- gleymi: “GLAY-mee”  
- stundum: “STUN-dum” (u like “put”)  
- að: “ath” (ð like “th” in “this”)  
- kaupa: “KOW-pa” (ow like “now”)  
- mjólk: “MYOHLK” (y ≈ French u/German ü, English “yo” works)

Ég gleymi stundum að kaupa mjólk.

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