Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Mig langar að drekka vatn.

With impersonal verbs like langa, the verb defaults to 3rd person singular and does not agree with the experiencer. That’s why it’s always langar in the present, no matter who feels the desire:

Mig langar, Þig langar, Okkur langar (all use langar). Past tense is langaði: Mig langaði að drekka vatn.

What does að do here? Is it “to” or “that”?

Here að is the infinitive marker “to,” introducing the verb drekka (drink). It’s not the complementizer “that” (which is also að in Icelandic). In fast speech, the ð in að often weakens or disappears before a following dental like d/t, so að drekka often sounds like “a drekka.”

Why is vatn bare and not vatnið or vatni?

drekka takes a direct object in the accusative. For neuter nouns like vatn, nominative and accusative singular look the same: vatn.
You use the bare mass noun when you mean “some water” in general: að drekka vatn.
If you mean specific, definite water, use the suffixed article: að drekka vatnið (“the water”).
vatni is dative (e.g., with prepositions like í: í vatni = “in water”).

Mini paradigm (sg.):

Nom: vatn
Acc: vatn
Dat: vatni
Gen: vatns

How is Mig langar að drekka vatn different from Mig langar í vatn?

Mig langar að + VERB focuses on the activity: “I feel like doing X.” Here: “I feel like drinking.”
Mig langar í + NOUN (acc.) means “I want/crave some X (as an object).” Mig langar í vatn = “I want (some) water.” Both are natural, but they highlight different things (the act vs. the item).

Can I say Ég vil drekka vatn instead? What’s the difference?

Yes. Ég vil drekka vatn is perfectly correct and often stronger or more deliberate (“I want to drink water”). Mig langar að drekka vatn is more about a desire/urge or “feel like.” In many contexts, either works, but vil can sound more decisive than langar.

Can I say Mér langar?

In standard Icelandic it’s Mig langar (accusative). You will hear Mér langar (dative) informally from some speakers, but it’s considered nonstandard in careful speech and writing. Stick to mig langar.

How do I make a yes/no question from this?

Invert the verb and use the correct accusative pronoun:

Statement: Þig langar að drekka vatn.
Question: Langar þig að drekka vatn? Negation goes after the verb: Langar þig ekki að drekka vatn? Alternatively with vilja: Viltu drekka vatn? (more “do you want to …?”)

Where does negation go?

Put ekki after the finite verb langar:

Mig langar ekki að drekka vatn. Don’t put ekki inside the að
- infinitive chunk unless you’re negating the activity itself in a contrastive way.

Can I also say Mig langar til að drekka vatn?

Yes. Both Mig langar að VERB and Mig langar til að VERB are used. Many speakers feel til að is a bit more formal or careful style; plain að is very common in everyday speech. With nouns, you typically use í (object of desire) or til (direction, places): Mig langar í vatn, Mig langar til Íslands.

How do I use this with other persons and in the past?

Present (always 3rd sg. verb): Þig/Okkur/Ykkur/Þá/Þær/Þau langar að drekka vatn.
Past: Mig langaði að drekka vatn., Okkur langaði að drekka vatn.
Negative: Mig langar ekki að drekka vatn. Remember the experiencer is in the accusative.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

Mig: often like “mih” with a soft glide at the end; the g is weak ([mɪj]/[mɪɣ]).
langar: stress the first syllable; ng is a nasal sound (like “singer”); think “LAHNG-ar.”
að: usually very short; the ð often weakens or drops before the d in drekka, so it can sound like “a drekka.”
drekka: the kk is pre-aspirated; you may hear a little
vatn: the tn cluster is tight; many say something like “VAH-tn,” with a very short or devoiced final n.

Are there other verbs like langa that use a “quirky” case for the experiencer?

Yes. Common ones include:

Mér líkar þetta. (“I like this.” dative experiencer)
Mér finnst þetta. (“I think/feel this.” dative experiencer)
Mig vantar vatn. (“I need water.” accusative experiencer) These are impersonal patterns you’ll see a lot in Icelandic.

Why is drekka in this form and not something like drekk?

Because að requires the infinitive. The infinitive of the verb is drekka. Finite forms change:

ég drekk, þú drekkur, hann drekkur, við drekkum, etc. With að, keep the infinitive: að drekka.