Breakdown of Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin.
Questions & Answers about Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin.
No, you can’t drop um here.
In Icelandic, hugsa um e-ð / e-n means “to think about something / someone.”
The preposition um is required and it takes the accusative case.
- Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína.
= I think about my family.
Without um, the sentence is ungrammatical:
✗ Ég hugsa fjölskylduna mína (incorrect in the intended meaning).
So, when you want to say “think about X,” memorize the pattern hugsa um + accusative.
Fjölskylda (family) is a feminine noun. In this sentence it appears as:
- fjölskylduna = definite, accusative, singular
Breakdown:
- fjölskylda – nominative singular, indefinite (“a family”)
- fjölskyldan – nominative singular, definite (“the family”)
- fjölskyldu – accusative singular, indefinite (“a family” as object)
- fjölskylduna – accusative singular, definite (“the family” as object)
We need:
- Accusative case because um governs the accusative.
- Definite form because it’s my (specific) family, not just “a family.”
So: um + (the) family → um fjölskylduna.
Two things are happening: word order and agreement.
Word order
With a definite noun, Icelandic often prefers:- [definite noun] + [possessive pronoun]
→ fjölskylduna mína = “my family”
Compare:
- fjölskylda mín – “my family” (indefinite family with a possessive; also fine in many contexts)
- fjölskyldan mín – “my family” (definite)
- fjölskylduna mína – “my family” (here as an object: definite + accusative)
In this specific sentence, fjölskylduna mína is the natural way to say it.
- [definite noun] + [possessive pronoun]
Agreement
The possessive pronoun minn must agree with the noun in:- gender
- number
- case
Fjölskylduna is:
- feminine
- singular
- accusative
The corresponding form of minn is mína (feminine, singular, accusative).
So: fjölskylduna (f, acc, sg) + mína (f, acc, sg) → correct agreement.
Forms like mínum are different case (dative) and would be wrong here.
Á kvöldin is a habitual time expression and is best translated as:
- “in the evenings” / “at night (in the evenings)”
Word-by-word:
- á – “on/at/in” (preposition, here used for time)
- kvöld – “evening” (neuter noun)
- kvöldin – definite plural form: “the evenings”
So literally it’s something like “on the evenings,” but in English we say “in the evenings” when describing a repeated or usual activity.
Examples:
- Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin.
→ I think about my family in the evenings (as a habit).
It does not refer to one specific evening, but to evenings in general as a regular time.
The noun kvöld (evening) is neuter. Its main forms:
singular:
- nominative/accusative: kvöld
- definite singular: kvöldið (“the evening”)
plural:
- nominative/accusative: kvöld
- definite plural: kvöldin (“the evenings”)
In á kvöldin, we use definite plural (“the evenings”) because we’re talking about habitual time: “(on) the evenings (in general).”
Forms like:
- kvöldið – “the evening” (one specific evening)
- kvöldum / kvöldunum – dative plural forms (used in other structures)
The fixed expression for “in the evenings” is á kvöldin with kvöldin (definite plural).
á kvöldin
- literally “on the evenings”
- used for habitual, repeated actions
- translates as “in the evenings” / “in the evenings in general”
Example:
Ég les bækur á kvöldin. – I read books in the evenings.í kvöld
- literally “in the evening (today)”
- refers to this evening / tonight (one specific time, usually today)
Example:
Ég hugsa mikið um fjölskylduna mína í kvöld.
– I’m thinking a lot about my family this evening / tonight.
So in your sentence, á kvöldin expresses a regular habit, not just what happens today.
Icelandic uses the simple present more broadly than English.
- Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin.
→ “I think about my family in the evenings.”
This describes a general, repeated habit.
If you want to emphasize that you are currently in the process of thinking (right now), you can use the progressive-like form:
- Ég er að hugsa um fjölskylduna mína.
→ “I am thinking about my family (right now).”
So:
- Habit/regular: Ég hugsa um… á kvöldin.
- Ongoing at this moment: Ég er að hugsa um…
No, you normally cannot drop subject pronouns in Icelandic.
You must say:
- Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin.
Leaving out Ég:
- ✗ Hugsa um fjölskylduna mína á kvöldin. (ungrammatical as a normal sentence)
Icelandic is not a “null-subject” language like Spanish or Italian. The pronoun is required in normal speech and writing.
Very approximate “English-style” pronunciations (not strict IPA):
- Ég – roughly like “yehg”; in everyday speech often close to “yeh”.
- hugsa – roughly “HUG-sah”, but the g is soft and the s is sharp.
- um – like “oom” (short) or “um” with a rounded vowel.
- fjölskylduna – roughly “FYUL-skil-dü-na”
- fj is like an f plus a y glide: fy-
- ö (ö) is similar to the vowel in British “girl” or German “schön”.
- mína – “MEE-na”.
- á – like “ow” in “cow”.
- kvöldin – roughly “KVEL-din”
- kv is pronounced together, like English “kv”
- ð is very soft here, often blending with the surrounding consonants.
Stress is always on the first syllable of each word in Icelandic: ÉG HUGsa um FJÖLskylduna MÍna á KVÖLDin (primary stress at the start of each word).
These verbs have different uses:
hugsa um e-ð/e-n – to think about something/someone
- mental activity, focusing your thoughts on something.
- Ég hugsa um fjölskylduna mína.
halda – often “to think / to believe” (have an opinion or belief)
- Ég held að hann komi. – I think (believe) that he will come.
finna – basic meaning is “to find”, but can also be used for “to feel / have an opinion that”
- Ég finn að þetta er rétt. – I feel that this is right.
- Mér finnst þetta gott. – I think this is good / I like this.
For “think about my family,” the natural and correct expression is hugsa um fjölskylduna mína, not halda or finna.