Questions & Answers about Við tölum um leikinn í kvöld.
- Við – “we” (1st person plural pronoun, nominative). Dictionary form is við.
- tölum – “(we) talk/speak”. Dictionary (infinitive) form is að tala (“to talk/speak”).
- um – preposition um (“about, around, over” etc.).
- leikinn – “the game” in the accusative. Dictionary form (nominative singular, indefinite) is leikur (“game”).
- í – preposition í (“in, into; in/this (time expression)”).
- kvöld – “evening, night”. Dictionary form is kvöld (neuter noun; nominative and accusative look the same).
The verb is að tala (“to talk”), but it changes form to match the subject.
Present tense of tala:
- ég tala – I talk
- þú talar – you (sg.) talk
- hann/hún/það talar – he/she/it talks
- við tölum – we talk
- þið talið – you (pl.) talk
- þeir/þær/þau tala – they talk
Two things happen in tölum:
- The -um ending marks 1st person plural (“we”).
- The vowel a → ö changes because of the u in the ending (tala → töl-um); this is a regular vowel change (u-umlaut) in Icelandic.
So við tölum is the correct “we talk/speak”.
um is the usual preposition for “about” in the sense of “the topic of conversation”:
- tala um eitthvað – to talk about something
- lesa um eitthvað – to read about something
um normally takes the accusative case. That’s why leikur (“game”) appears as leikinn (accusative, definite):
- nominative: leikur – a game
- accusative (indefinite): leik – a game (object)
- accusative definite: leikinn – the game (object)
In the sentence, um leikinn = “about the game”.
The ending -inn has two functions here:
Definite article (“the”):
- leikur = “a game”
- leikinn = “the game”
It shows accusative singular for a masculine noun:
- nominative definite: leikurinn – the game (as subject)
- accusative definite: leikinn – the game (as object)
So leikinn tells you both:
- it’s definite (“the game”), and
- it’s in the accusative (object of um).
Literally, í often means “in/into”, but with time expressions it can mean “this / on / at”.
Í kvöld is a set expression meaning “tonight / this evening”.
Compare:
- í dag – today
- í gær – yesterday
- í fyrra – last year
So:
- í kvöld = “tonight / this evening”
- It’s not “in the evening (as a general habit)”; that would be á kvöldin (“in the evenings”).
Grammatically it’s the present tense, but Icelandic often uses the present with a future time expression to talk about the near future.
- Við tölum um leikinn í kvöld.
= literally “We talk about the game tonight.”
= naturally understood as “We’ll talk about the game tonight.”
Icelandic doesn’t have a separate future tense like English “will”. Instead, you:
- use the present tense
- a time word (í kvöld, á morgun, næsta ár, etc.), or
- sometimes use a verb like ætla (“plan to, intend to”):
Við ætlum að tala um leikinn í kvöld – “We’re going to talk about the game tonight.”
In normal statements, you do not drop the subject pronoun in Icelandic. You should say:
- Við tölum um leikinn í kvöld.
If you say Tölum um leikinn í kvöld, it sounds like:
- an inclusive suggestion / imperative: “Let’s talk about the game tonight.”
So:
- Við tölum … = plain statement (“We talk/we’ll talk …”)
- Tölum … (without við) = suggestion/command (“Let’s talk …”)
Yes, the word order can change, and Icelandic allows several options while keeping almost the same meaning.
All of these are grammatically correct:
- Við tölum um leikinn í kvöld.
- Við tölum í kvöld um leikinn.
- Í kvöld tölum við um leikinn.
General ideas:
- Icelandic main clauses are verb-second (V2): the finite verb (tölum) must be in 2nd position.
- You can move í kvöld (the time phrase) to the front for emphasis:
Í kvöld tölum við um leikinn – “Tonight, we’ll talk about the game (not some other time).”
Meaning stays essentially the same; only the focus/emphasis shifts slightly.
kvöld is a neuter noun whose nominative and accusative singular forms are identical:
- nominative sg.: kvöld – an evening
- accusative sg.: kvöld – an evening (object / time expression)
- dative sg.: kvöldi
- genitive sg.: kvölds
With time expressions like í kvöld, the noun is in the accusative, but because kvöld looks the same in nominative and accusative, you don’t see a visible change.
So:
- í kvöld = accusative, but it just happens to be spelled kvöld.
A rough English-style approximation (not precise IPA):
- Við ≈ vith (with a voiced “th” as in this)
- tölum ≈ TUR-lum (both vowels rounded; the ö is like German ö in schön)
- um ≈ oom but shorter and more central (like a very short “um” with rounded lips)
- leikinn ≈ LAYK-in (the ei like English day; final -nn is short, not strongly stressed)
- í ≈ long ee
- kvöld ≈ kvehlt (the kv together; ö again like German ö; final ld is quite compact)
Typical issues for English speakers:
- Getting the ö in tölum and kvöld right (it’s not plain “uh” or “oh”, but a rounded “e”-sound).
- Pronouncing ð in við as in English this (not like d).
- Keeping vowels shorter than in English, unless they are clearly long (like í in í kvöld).
Yes, but there’s a nuance:
- tala um eitthvað – “talk about something” (very general, everyday)
- ræða eitthvað – “discuss something” (a bit more formal/serious)
So:
- Við tölum um leikinn í kvöld. – “We’ll talk about the game tonight.”
- Við ræðum leikinn í kvöld. – “We’ll discuss the game tonight.”
Both are correct; tala um is more neutral and colloquial, ræða can sound a little more focused or serious.