Ég vil frekar vatn en kaffi.

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Breakdown of Ég vil frekar vatn en kaffi.

• vatnið: the water
• vilja: to want
• kaffi: the coffee

Questions & Answers about Ég vil frekar vatn en kaffi.

What does each word mean?

• Ég = I (nominative)
• vil = want (1st person singular present of vilja “to want”)
• frekar = rather / more readily
• vatn = water (neuter singular)
• en = than
• kaffi = coffee (neuter singular)

How do you pronounce the words?

Approximate IPA and tips:

• Ég (jɛːɣ) — like “yeh” with a soft gh at the end
• vil (vɪl)
• frekar (freːkar) — long e in the first syllable
• vatn (vaʰtn̥) — the t is pre-aspirated; don’t worry if you say (vatn)
• en (ɛn)
• kaffi (kʰafːɪ) — initial k is strongly aspirated; ff is long Stress is on the first syllable of each word; overall falling intonation.

Why is there no article before “water” or “coffee”?

Icelandic has no indefinite article (“a/an”). Mass nouns like vatn and kaffi often appear without any article when speaking generally. Use the definite suffix to be specific: vatnið = “the water,” kaffið = “the coffee.”

What case are “vatn” and “kaffi,” and why do they look uninflected?