Breakdown of Við hittumst á kaffihúsinu á morgun.
við
we
á morgun
tomorrow
á
at
kaffihúsið
the café
hittast
to meet
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Questions & Answers about Við hittumst á kaffihúsinu á morgun.
Why is the verb hittumst used instead of hittum?
The verb hitta means to meet, but it usually takes the reflexive ending -st when two (or more) people meet one another. Hittast is the reciprocal form. Conjugated in the present for við, it becomes við hittumst = we meet.
Why is the present tense used if the meeting is tomorrow?
Icelandic often uses the present tense to talk about scheduled or planned future events—just like English We’re meeting tomorrow. If you want to stress the future aspect, you can use munum + infinitive: Við munum hittast á morgun.
Can you drop the pronoun við and just say Hittumst á kaffihúsinu á morgun?
Yes. Icelandic verb endings already indicate the subject, so hittumst alone implies we meet. Dropping við makes it more casual or a quick reminder: (We) meet at the café tomorrow.
Why is it á kaffihúsinu and not í kaffihúsinu or just á kaffihús?
- Á and í both can mark location, but á kaffihúsinu (at the café) is the most idiomatic way to say at the coffeehouse.
- With á, you use the dative case for static location.
- Kaffihús is neuter, so its definite dative singular form is kaffihúsinu.
Why does kaffihúsinu end with -inu?
- The base form kaffihús (a neuter noun) takes no article in its indefinite form.
- To say the coffeehouse, you add -ið → kaffihúsið (nominative definite).
- Then, because á with location requires the dative, you change -ið to -inu, giving kaffihúsinu.
Why do we say á morgun for tomorrow and not í morgun?
- Í morgun means this morning.
- Á morgun means tomorrow.
It’s a fixed time-expression. Use í for earlier segments of today and á for the coming day.
What case is morgun in á morgun?
In time expressions like á morgun, morgun remains in its base form (often treated like an adverbial), so there’s no extra ending or case marking.
How do you form the explicit future tense in Icelandic?
Use munu(r) + infinitive. For example:
- Present: Við hittumst á morgun (we meet tomorrow).
- Future: Við munum hittast á morgun (we will meet tomorrow).
What’s the difference between hittast and mætast?
- Hittast is to meet one another (arrange to meet someone).
- Mætast often means to show up or to attend an event, e.g. Við mætumst á fundinum = we attend the meeting.
They overlap sometimes, but hittast is the go-to for “meet each other.”