Ég held að veðrið verði heitt á morgun.

I think the weather will be hot tomorrow.

Breakdown of Ég held að veðrið verði heitt á morgun.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• veðrið: the weather
• heitur: hot
• á morgun: tomorrow
• að: that
• halda: to think

Questions & Answers about Ég held að veðrið verði heitt á morgun.

Why is held að used here instead of something like ég hugsa að for “I think”?

In Icelandic, halda (here held) in the phrase ég held að is the most common way to say “I think that…” or “I believe that…”. You can hear ég hugsa að (literally “I ponder that”) occasionally in colloquial speech, but held að is far more idiomatic when expressing an opinion or belief.

Why is the verb verða in the form verði rather than verður?

After verbs of thinking or believing (like halda, trúi) that express uncertainty or a conjecture, Icelandic traditionally uses the subjunctive in the dependent clause. Verði is the present subjunctive of verða (“to become / to be (in future)”). If you were stating a certain fact you’d use the indicative verður instead.

Why does verði appear at the end of the subordinate clause?

Icelandic subordinate clauses introduced by að push the finite verb to the very end. The structure is:
1) að + 2) subject + 3) other elements + 4) finite verb (subjunctive or indicative).
So after að veðrið heitt á morgun, the verb verði comes last.

Why is it veðrið instead of veður? What’s with the -ið ending?

The ending -ið is the postfixed definite article for neuter nouns in the nominative singular. Veður is the indefinite form (“(some) weather”), while veðrið means “the weather”. In most contexts you refer to the weather as a specific phenomenon, so you use the definite form.

Why is the adjective heitt and not heitur?

Adjectives in Icelandic must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. Veðrið is a neuter singular noun in the nominative case, so you take the neuter singular nominative form of heitur, which is heitt.

What case is used in á morgun, and why not á morguninn?

Á morgun is a set time expression meaning “tomorrow”. Here morgun is in the accusative after the preposition á. You drop the definite article in such idiomatic time phrases. Saying á morguninn would literally mean “on the morning”, emphasizing that specific morning rather than the general notion of tomorrow.

Could I drop að and say Ég held veðrið verði heitt á morgun?

In casual speech some might omit að, but standard Icelandic requires að to introduce the subordinate clause. Without it, the sentence is considered incomplete or colloquial:
• Correct: Ég held að veðrið verði heitt á morgun.
• Colloquial/incorrect: Ég held veðrið verði heitt á morgun.

What’s the difference between held and trúi when saying “I believe”?

Both halda (held) and trúa (trúi) translate as “to believe”, but with a nuance:

• halda að = “I think that / I’m of the opinion that” (neutral, intellectual).
• trúa að = “I believe that” in a stronger, more convinced or “faith”-like sense.

How would I say “I don’t think the weather will be hot tomorrow”?

Simply insert ekki after the main-­clause verb:
Ég held ekki að veðrið verði heitt á morgun.
In the subordinate clause you still use the subjunctive verði at the end.