Questions & Answers about Við förum í stutt hlé eftir fyrstu æfinguna.
Why is the verb förum used here, and what form is it?
Förum is the 1st person plural present tense of the verb fara (to go).
- fara – infinitive
- ég fer – I go
- við förum – we go
Icelandic usually uses the present tense to talk about planned or near-future actions, so Við förum í stutt hlé naturally means We’ll go for / We’re going to take a short break in context, even though it’s literally We go into a short break.
There is no special future tense in Icelandic; context + present tense usually cover it.
Why is the preposition í used here, and what does it mean in this sentence?
Í most often means in / into / to. With places or states, it works like this:
- Í + accusative → movement into something
- fara í skóla – to go to school
- fara í bíó – to go to the cinema
- fara í hlé – to go into a break / to take a break
So í stutt hlé literally is into a short break. That’s why the verb fara fits: fara í X is a very common pattern for going into some activity/state.
What case is hlé in, and why doesn’t it change its form?