Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Icelandic grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Við förum vestur þegar sólin sest.
What does við mean and why is it placed at the beginning of the sentence?
Við is the first-person plural pronoun ‘we’ in the nominative case. Icelandic main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule, so the finite verb (förum) must be the second element. Placing við first ensures förum occupies the second position.
Why is förum the form of fara used here?
Fara is a strong, irregular verb meaning ‘to go.’ In the first-person plural present tense, it undergoes a vowel change (ablaut) from a to ö, yielding förum (‘we go’).
What kind of word is vestur, and why is there no preposition like til?
Here vestur is a directional adverb meaning ‘westward.’ Icelandic allows the four cardinal directions (austur, norður, suður, vestur) to stand alone as adverbs of movement. If you wanted a prepositional phrase, you would say til vesturs, with vesturs in the genitive.
How is the definite article expressed in sólin?
Icelandic forms the definite article by adding a suffix to the noun. Sól (‘sun’) is feminine; its nominative definite ending is -in, so sólin means ‘the sun.’
Why is the verb sest placed at the end of þegar sólin sest?
Þegar is a subordinating conjunction meaning ‘when.’ Subordinate clauses in Icelandic use Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, so the finite verb goes to the clause’s final position: þegar sólin sest.
What does þegar mean and how is it used?
Þegar means ‘when’ in a temporal sense (‘at the time that’). It introduces a time clause and does not change the case of the following noun.
Why doesn’t sest require a reflexive pronoun?
The verb setjast (‘to set’, of the sun) is inherently reflexive/middle voice, so it conjugates without a separate reflexive pronoun. In 3rd person singular present it becomes sest.
Can the present tense förum refer to a future action?
Yes. Like English, Icelandic often uses the present tense for planned or near-future events. Við förum can mean ‘we go’ or ‘we will go.’
How do you pronounce ð in við and þ in þegar?
ð (eth) is a voiced dental fricative like the ‘th’ in English this [ð]. þ (thorn) is a voiceless dental fricative like the ‘th’ in think [θ].