Ég ætla að panta borð.

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Breakdown of Ég ætla að panta borð.

• borðið: the table
• ætla: to plan
• panta: to reserve

Questions & Answers about Ég ætla að panta borð.

What exactly does the verb ætla mean here?

Ætla literally means “to intend/plan.” In everyday speech it often works like English “be going to,” expressing a planned or decided future action. Icelandic doesn’t have a separate future tense, so speakers use the present with verbs like ætla (intention) or munu (prediction/promise), or just the present with a time expression.

Why is að in the sentence? Is it the same að as “that” or the preposition “to”?

Here að is the infinitive marker, i.e., “to” before a verb: að panta = “to book/reserve.” Don’t confuse it with:

• að as “that” introducing a clause: Ég veit að þú kemur (I know that you’re coming).
• að as a preposition “to/towards/at” (usually with dative): að húsinu (to the house).

Why is there no word for “a” before borð?

Icelandic has no indefinite article. You simply say the noun by itself for “a/an.” The definite article is a suffix: borðið = “the table.”

What case is borð, and why doesn’t it change form?