Ég vil meira kaffi.

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Breakdown of Ég vil meira kaffi.

• vilja: to want
• kaffi: the coffee
• meira: more

Questions & Answers about Ég vil meira kaffi.

What is the grammatical role of meira in the sentence?

Meira is the comparative form of the adjective (or degree word) meaning “more.” Here it modifies the noun kaffi, indicating an increased quantity of coffee.

Why is it meira and not meiri?

In Icelandic, comparative adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify. Kaffi is a neuter noun in the indefinite singular; the neuter singular comparative ending is -a, giving meira instead of the masculine/feminine meiri.

Why doesn’t kaffi change its ending for the direct object (accusative) case?

Many neuter nouns in Icelandic have identical forms in the nominative and accusative singular indefinite. Kaffi is one of these “flat” neuter nouns, so its form stays kaffi whether it’s subject or direct object.

What kind of verb is vil, and how does it conjugate?

Vil is the first person singular present tense of the strong, irregular verb vilja (to want). Its present-tense paradigm is:

• ég vil
• þú villt
• hann/hún/það vill
• við viljum
• þið viljið
• þeir/þær/þau vilja