Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Lestin fer líklega seint í dag. - The train probably leaves late today.

Lestin – the train
- From lest = train (feminine noun)
- -in is the suffixed definite article = the
fer – goes / leaves
- 3rd person singular present of fara = to go, to leave, to depart
líklega – probably
- An adverb meaning probably / likely
seint – late
- An adverb meaning late (in time)
í – in
- Preposition; here part of the fixed time expression
dag – day
- Together with í it forms í dag = today

A fairly literal translation is: “The train goes probably late today.” (Natural English: The train will probably be late today / The train will probably leave late today.)

Why is it lestin and not just lest?

Icelandic does not use a separate word for the; instead, it sticks the definite article onto the end of the noun.

lest = a train (indefinite, nominative singular)
lestin = the train (definite, nominative singular)

So:

Lest fer líklega seint í dag. → A train will probably be late today. (very generic, unusual without more context)
Lestin fer líklega seint í dag. → The train will probably be late today. (a specific, known train)

The sentence uses lestin because we are talking about one particular train that speaker and listener both have in mind.

Is lestin in the nominative case, and why?

Yes, lestin is nominative singular feminine.

In Icelandic, the subject of a normal active sentence is usually in the nominative case. Here:

Subject: Lestin (the train)
Verb: fer (goes / leaves)

Since lestin is the subject of fer, it appears in the nominative case. If it were the object of a verb or governed by a preposition that takes another case, the form would change.

Why is the verb fer in the present tense if this is about the future?

Icelandic often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially for scheduled events such as trains, flights, meetings, etc. This is similar to English sentences like:

The train leaves at six.
We fly to Paris tomorrow.

So:

Lestin fer líklega seint í dag.
literally: The train goes probably late today
naturally: The train will probably leave late today / The train will probably be late today.

There is no dedicated grammatical “future tense” in Icelandic. Future meaning is normally expressed by:

Present tense (as here), or
A modal/auxiliary like munu: Lestin mun líklega fara seint í dag.

Both are possible; the simple present is very common and natural in this context.

Can I say Lestin mun líklega fara seint í dag instead? What’s the difference from Lestin fer líklega seint í dag?

You can say:

Lestin mun líklega fara seint í dag.

This is also correct. Differences in feel:

Lestin fer líklega seint í dag.
- Shorter, more colloquial and very typical in everyday speech.
- Uses the present; future meaning comes from “today” and context.
Lestin mun líklega fara seint í dag.
- Slightly more explicit about the future because of mun.
- Can sound a bit more formal or careful, but it’s still normal Icelandic.

In practice, both can be used, and the difference is subtle – often more about style than meaning.

Where does líklega normally go in the sentence? Can I move it?

In main clauses, the finite verb in Icelandic tends to be in second position (the V2 rule). After that, many adverbs like líklega usually come right after the finite verb.

Standard word order here:

Lestin (subject, 1st position)
fer (finite verb, 2nd position)
líklega (sentence adverb, usually comes right after the verb)
seint í dag (other adverbials)

So Lestin fer líklega seint í dag is the neutral order.

You can move líklega for emphasis:

Líklega fer lestin seint í dag.
(Probably, the train will be late today. – emphasises the “probably”)

What is not natural is putting it in random places like:

✗ Lestin líklega fer seint í dag.
✗ Lestin fer seint líklega í dag. (sounds odd and clumsy)

A good rule of thumb: in a normal statement, put líklega right after the finite verb, unless you front it for emphasis.

What kind of word is líklega, and how is it related to líklegur or líklegt?

líklegur – adjective, “probable / likely” (masculine form)
líklegt – neuter singular of the same adjective, often used impersonally:
- Það er líklegt að… = It is likely that…
líklega – adverb, “probably / likely”.

In Lestin fer líklega seint í dag, líklega is an adverb modifying the whole statement, like English probably:

Lestin fer líklega seint í dag.
→ The train will probably be late today.

A related alternative structure is:

Það er líklegt að lestin fari seint í dag.
→ It is likely that the train will be late today.

Here, líklegt is an adjective, and fari is in the subjunctive (see another question below).

What exactly does seint mean, and how is it different from sein(n) or seinna?

seint – adverb meaning late (in time)
- used with verbs: fara seint, koma seint, vakna seint
- fer seint = goes/leaves late
seinn / sein / seint – adjective meaning late
- agrees with a noun:
  - Lestin er sein. = The train is late. (feminine)
  - Bíllinn er seinn. = The car is late. (masculine)
seinna – comparative adverb/adjective: later
- Hann kemur seinna. = He’ll come later.

In the sentence:

fer seint uses the adverb seint because it’s describing how the action (the leaving) happens, not directly describing the train as an adjective. Both:
Lestin fer seint. – The train leaves late.
Lestin er sein. – The train is late.

are natural, but they use different grammar (adverb vs adjective).

Why is the expression í dag used, and what does the í literally mean?

Í dag is a fixed time expression meaning today.

í = in
dag = day

Literally it is “in day”, but idiomatically it simply means today. You cannot normally replace í with another preposition here.

The expression is very common:

í gær – yesterday
í fyrradag – the day before yesterday
í kvöld – tonight (this evening)

In the sentence, í dag specifies the time when the train is (expected to be) late.

Could í dag go at the beginning of the sentence, like in English “Today the train will probably be late”?

Yes. Icelandic allows you to put a time expression first for emphasis or for linking to previous context. If you move í dag to the front, the finite verb must still stay in second position:

Í dag fer lestin líklega seint.

Order here:

Í dag (fronted time expression)
fer (finite verb, 2nd position)
lestin (subject)
líklega seint (other adverbs)

Meaning: Today the train will probably be late. – with special emphasis on today (e.g. Today, unlike other days, the train will probably be late).

How would you negate this sentence – “The train will probably not be late today”?

The negation word ekki usually comes right after the finite verb, and sentence adverbs like líklega typically come before or after it depending on emphasis.

Two common options:

Lestin fer líklega ekki seint í dag.
- Neutral, very natural order.
- The train will probably not be late today.
Lestin fer ekki líklega seint í dag.
- Possible, but now ekki is more strongly negating the probability idea, something closer to
  The train is not likely to be late today.

In informal speech, option 1 is what you normally want.

Why does Það er líklegt að lestin fari seint í dag use fari instead of fer?

In the clause:

Það er líklegt að lestin fari seint í dag.
→ It is likely that the train will be late today.

the verb fari is in the subjunctive mood (present subjunctive of fara).

Icelandic often uses the subjunctive in subordinate clauses introduced by að when the main clause expresses:

doubt
probability
possibility
feelings
necessity, etc.

Here, líklegt (likely) triggers the subjunctive in the following að-clause:

Það er líklegt [að lestin fari seint í dag].

If you remove Það er líklegt að and make it a main clause again, you go back to the indicative:

Lestin fer líklega seint í dag. (indicative fer)

So:

Main clause, direct statement: fer (indicative)
Subordinate clause under “It is likely that…”: fari (subjunctive)

Does Lestin fer líklega seint í dag say anything about habit, like “The train usually leaves late today”?

No, it does not express habit. It refers to one specific occasion, today.

The adverb líklega means probably, not usually. If you wanted to talk about a habitual situation, you would use another adverb such as venjulega (usually, normally):

Lestin fer venjulega seint.
→ The train usually leaves late.

So:

líklega → probability, probably
venjulega → habit, usually

Lestin fer líklega seint í dag is about what is expected today, not what normally happens.