Breakdown of Við skoðum þetta nánar á morgun.
Questions & Answers about Við skoðum þetta nánar á morgun.
It uses the present tense (skoðum = we examine), but Icelandic often uses the present with a future time expression (á morgun = tomorrow) to talk about the future. You can also say:
- Við munum skoða þetta nánar á morgun. (we will)
- Við ætlum að skoða þetta nánar á morgun. (we intend/are going to)
Skoðum is 1st person plural present indicative of skoða (to examine/look over). Present:
- ég skoða
- þú skoðar
- hann/hún/það skoðar
- við skoðum
- þið skoðið
- þeir/þær/þau skoða
Past (just for contrast): við skoðuðum = we examined.
Both can be possible, but they feel a bit different:
- þetta = this/this thing (often the specific issue at hand, the thing we’re focused on now).
- það = it/that (more neutral or more distant). So Við skoðum þetta nánar á morgun sounds like “we’ll look at this (particular matter) more closely tomorrow.” Við skoðum það… is also fine if you just mean “it.”
Accusative, because it’s the direct object of skoða (a transitive verb that takes the accusative). Neuter þetta happens to look the same in nominative and accusative.
- Neuter: nominative/accusative þetta, dative þessu, genitive þessa.
Yes. Icelandic is a verb-second (V2) language, so the finite verb stays in the second position:
- Á morgun skoðum við þetta nánar. You can also say: Á morgun munum við skoða þetta nánar.
Put nánar right after the object: the idiom is skoða eitthvað nánar.
- Natural: Við skoðum þetta nánar á morgun.
- Unnatural: Við skoðum nánar þetta á morgun.
- á morgun = tomorrow
- í morgun = this morning Related:
- í fyrramálið = tomorrow morning
- á morgnana = in the mornings (habitually)
- Yes/no: move the verb first (V1 in questions):
- Skoðum við þetta nánar á morgun?
- Negative: place ekki after the finite verb:
- Við skoðum þetta ekki nánar á morgun.
Yes, depending on nuance:
- athuga = check, look into
- fara yfir = go over, review
- rannsaka = investigate (more formal/thorough)
- kíkja á = have a quick look at (informal)
- líta á = look at (glance/consider) For “look into (a matter),” skoða, athuga, or fara yfir are most typical.
They’re the same pronoun in different cases:
- við = we (nominative; subject)
- okkur = us (dative/accusative; object)
- okkar = our/of us (genitive)
- þ (in þetta) = voiceless th (as in “thing”).
- ð (in við, skoðum) = voiced th (as in “this”), often quite soft.
- á (in á morgun, nánar) = “ow” as in “cow.” Approximate whole sentence: “VITH SKOH-thoom THET-ta NOW-nar ow MOR-gun.” (R is tapped/trilled lightly.)