Ég býst við að veðrið verði gott á morgun.

I expect the weather to be good tomorrow.

Breakdown of Ég býst við að veðrið verði gott á morgun.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• veðrið: the weather
• á morgun: tomorrow

Questions & Answers about Ég býst við að veðrið verði gott á morgun.

What does býst við mean, and why is við part of it?

býst við comes from the verb phrase að búast við, which means “to expect.” The little word við here is not the pronoun “we” but a postposition that belongs to the verb:

• að búast við eitthvað = “to expect something”
  In the present tense for “I,” you say ég býst við. If you want, you can insert því (the neuter demonstrative pronoun “that”) before að, like ég býst við því að…, but in everyday speech því is often dropped.

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Why is the verb in the clause veðrið verði gott using verði instead of verður?

Because Icelandic uses the subjunctive mood here. After verbs of expectation (like búst við) and certain conjunctions (að in this case), the subordinate clause takes the subjunctive to signal that the event is not (yet) a fact.

• Indicative: Veðrið verður gott (“The weather will be good” as a plain future statement)
• Subjunctive: að veðrið verði gott (“that the weather may/be expected to be good”)

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When do you use the subjunctive in Icelandic?

You’ll often see the subjunctive after:
• verbs of wishing, hoping, fearing, expecting (e.g. vona að, kvíða að, búa​st við að) • conjunctions like (“although”), in some set phrases, and in (“conditional”) clauses with • certain fixed expressions (e.g. )In practice, if you’ve got plus a subordinate clause under a verb that expresses something non-factual or desired, you’ll usually switch to the subjunctive.