Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ég geri ekkert í kvöld.

Yes. Icelandic often uses the present tense for near-future plans when a time expression like í kvöld (tonight) is present. So Ég geri ... í kvöld is naturally understood as “I’m doing/will do … tonight.”

Where is the word for “not”? Why is there no ekki?

Negation here comes from the object ekkert (“nothing”), not from ekki (“not”). Icelandic can negate either with the adverb ekki or with a negative pronoun like ekkert. So Ég geri ekkert í kvöld literally means “I do nothing tonight.”

Can I also say Ég geri ekki neitt í kvöld? Does it mean the same?

Yes. Ég geri ekki neitt í kvöld is very common and means the same in practice. It uses negative concord (normal in Icelandic), where ekki (“not”) co-occurs with neitt (“anything”). Nuance:

Ég geri ekkert … can feel a touch more categorical/blunt.
Ég geri ekki neitt … can sound slightly more colloquial or emphatic (“not anything at all”).

What’s the difference between ekkert, neitt, and eitthvað?

ekkert = “nothing.” Negative by itself. Works as a pronoun (object/subject) and sometimes as an adverb (“not at all”): Það er ekkert mál (“It’s no problem at all”).
neitt = “anything/any.” A negative-polarity item: used mainly with negation (Ég geri ekki neitt) and also in questions/conditionals: Gerirðu neitt í kvöld? (“Are you doing anything tonight?”).
eitthvað = “something.” Used in positive statements and very common in open questions: Ertu að gera eitthvað í kvöld? (“Are you doing anything tonight?”).

Is Ég geri ekki ekkert ever correct?

Not for the intended meaning. Ég geri ekki ekkert would normally mean “It’s not the case that I do nothing,” i.e., “I do something,” and sounds odd unless you deliberately want that logical, contrastive meaning. Use either Ég geri ekkert or Ég geri ekki neitt.

Can I put the time first, like Í kvöld geri ég ekkert?

Yes. Icelandic is a verb-second (V2) language. If you front the time phrase, the finite verb stays in second position:

Í kvöld geri ég ekkert.
Neutral order is also fine: Ég geri ekkert í kvöld.

What case is ekkert in, and why does it end in -t?

ekkert is the neuter singular form (nominative/accusative are identical). Here it’s the direct object of gera, so it’s accusative.
The -t marks neuter. It’s related to the negative pronoun paradigm: masculine enginn, feminine engin, neuter ekkert (“no/none/nothing”).

What case is kvöld after í here, and why isn’t it kvöldi?

With time expressions like “tonight,” í takes the accusative, hence í kvöld. (The noun kvöld happens to have the same form in nominative and accusative singular.) You’ll see -i in the fixed phrase í gærkvöldi (“last night”), but for “tonight” it’s always í kvöld.

Is í kvöldi ever correct on its own?

Not for “tonight.” Use:

í kvöld = tonight (this coming evening)
í gærkvöldi = last night (evening)
í fyrrakvöld = the night before last For the late-night hours, Icelandic often uses í nótt (“tonight/during the night”).

How do you pronounce the sentence?

Approximate guide (Reykjavík standard, simplified):

Ég ≈ “yehg” (the g is a soft, fricative sound)
geri ≈ “YEAH-ri” (the g is palatal, like a soft “gy”)
ekkert ≈ “EH-k-ert” with a little breath before k; the “rt” is pronounced tightly together
í ≈ “ee” (long)
kvöld ≈ “kvuhlt,” with the vowel like the u in “fur” but rounded, and final “ld” sounding a bit like “lt” So: “yehg YEAH-ri EH-k-ert ee kvuhlt.”

Could I just say Geri ekkert í kvöld and drop Ég?

No in standard Icelandic; subjects aren’t normally dropped. You need Ég. (People might omit it in ultra-casual texting, but it’s not recommended for learners.)

Why not Ég geri ekki í kvöld?

Because gera usually needs an object or complement in this sense. Ég geri ekki í kvöld feels incomplete. You need something like:

Ég geri ekkert/ekki neitt í kvöld (no activity)
Ég geri það ekki í kvöld (“I won’t do it tonight,” with a pronoun object)

How is gera conjugated in the present?

ég geri
þú gerir
hann/hún/það gerir
við gerum
þið gerið
þeir/þær/þau gera

Is there a difference between this and saying Ég er ekki að gera neitt í kvöld?

Both are natural and usually mean the same. Vera að + infinitive (here: er að gera) often behaves like an English progressive (“am doing”). Many speakers use the progressive form in conversation: Ég er ekki að gera neitt í kvöld. The simple present Ég geri ekkert í kvöld is a bit more bare/statement-like.

Can I use the future auxiliary munu?

Yes. For example:

Ég mun ekkert gera í kvöld.
Ég mun ekki gera neitt í kvöld. These are perfectly correct, sometimes a bit more formal or predictive.

What are some idiomatic ways to say “I have no plans tonight”?

Ég er laus í kvöld. (I’m free tonight.)
Ég verð heima í kvöld. (I’ll be at home tonight.)
Ég ætla ekki að gera neitt í kvöld. (I’m not planning to do anything tonight.)
Ég ætla ekki út í kvöld. (I’m not going out tonight.)