Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi.

I do not want to get into an accident.

Breakdown of Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi.

• ég: I
• ekki: not
• vilja: to want
• slys: the accident
• lenda í: to get into

Questions & Answers about Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi.

How do the individual Icelandic words in Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi line up with English?

Word for word, it’s roughly:

• Ég – I (nominative singular pronoun)
• vil – want (1st person singular present of vilja, to want)
• ekki – not
• lenda – to end up / to get (into)
• í – in / into
• slysi – (an) accident (dative singular of slys, accident)

So the structure is literally: I want not end‑up in accident, which corresponds to English “I don’t want to get into an accident.”

Why is it vil and not vilja in this sentence?

Vilja is the infinitive (to want). It conjugates in the present tense like this:

• ég vil – I want
• þú vilt – you (sg.) want
• hann/hún/það vill – he/she/it wants
• við viljum – we want
• þið viljið – you (pl.) want
• þeir/þær/þau vilja – they want

Since the subject is ég (I), you must use the 1st‑person singular form vil, not the infinitive vilja.

So: Ég vil …, not Ég vilja ….

Why is there no að before lenda? In English we say “to get (into).”

In Icelandic, with modal‑type verbs like vilja (want), the following verb is usually a bare infinitive – it appears without að:

• Ég vil fara. – I want to go.
• Ég vil borða. – I want to eat.
• Ég vil ekki lenda. – I don’t want to end up / get (into).

So:

• Correct: Ég vil lenda í slysi.
• Incorrect / unidiomatic: Ég vil að lenda í slysi.

You do use að when you have a full clause:

• Ég vil ekki að ég lendi í slysi. – literally “I don’t want that I end up in an accident.”
  This is grammatical but much heavier and not what you’d normally say; the simple Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi is the natural version.

Why does ekki come after vil and not at the very end of the sentence?

Icelandic main clauses tend to follow this rough order:

Subject – finite verb – (negation/adverbs) – infinitive/objects/etc.

In this sentence:

• Subject: Ég
• Finite verb: vil
• Negation: ekki
• Infinitive phrase: lenda í slysi

So we get: Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi.

Alternatives like:

• Ég ekki vil lenda í slysi – wrong word order.
• Ég vil lenda ekki í slysi – sounds very odd; you’d need a strong, unusual emphasis to justify something like this, and even then it’s not natural.

So the normal neutral position of ekki here is right after the finite verb vil.

What exactly does lenda mean, and do you always use í with it here?

Lenda is a verb that means:

• to land (airplane, bird),
• to end up, to get into, or to find oneself (in a situation).

Some common patterns:

• lenda í slysi – get into an accident
• lenda í vandræðum – get into trouble
• lenda í erfiðleikum – get into difficulties
• flugvélin lenti – the plane landed

When you mean “end up in / get into (a situation),” lenda is normally followed by í + dative:

• lenda í slysi – literally “end up in accident (dative)”
• lenda í vandræðum – “end up in trouble (dative plural)”

So yes, for this “get into an accident” meaning, í is part of the usual construction.

Why is it í slysi and not something like í slys? What form is slysi?

The base noun is:

• slys (n.) – an accident

Its singular forms:

• Nominative: slys
• Accusative: slys
• Dative: slysi
• Genitive: slyss

The preposition í can govern accusative (motion into) or dative (location/state).
In lenda í slysi, you’re talking about ending up in the state of being in an accident, so it’s a kind of state/location, and í takes the dative:

• í slysi – in an accident (dative)

That’s why you see slysi, not bare slys, here.

Why don’t you say “an” accident in Icelandic? Why just slysi without an article?

Icelandic has no separate word for the indefinite article (“a / an”) like English.

• slys can mean a(n) accident or accident in general, depending on context.
• To say the accident, Icelandic uses a definite suffix on the noun: slysið.

So:

• Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi. – I don’t want to get into an accident.
• Ég vil ekki lenda í slysinu. – I don’t want to get into the accident.

The lack of a separate word for “a/an” is completely normal; it’s just how Icelandic works.

What case is Ég in, and why isn’t it Mig vil ekki lenda í slysi?

Ég is nominative singular, and vilja behaves like a normal verb with a nominative subject:

• Ég vil … – I want …
• Þú vilt … – You want …

So Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi is the correct structure.

The form mig is accusative, and it appears with certain impersonal verbs like langa:

• Mig langar í kaffi. – I would like coffee / I feel like coffee.
• Literally “me (acc.) longs for coffee.”

With vilja, though, you keep nominative:

• Ég vil kaffi. – I want coffee.
• Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi. – I don’t want to get into an accident.

So Mig vil … is ungrammatical.

What’s the difference between Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi and something with mig langar?

Both express wanting, but there’s a nuance:

• Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi.
  – Straightforward “I do not want to (end up in an accident).”
  – More volitional / deliberate: about your will, decision, intention.

• Mig langar ekki að lenda í slysi.
  – Also understandable as “I don’t feel like / I don’t want to get into an accident.”
  – Mig langar is more like “I feel like / I’m inclined to,” often used for wishes, cravings, or desires.

In practice:

• For something serious like an accident, Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi sounds a bit stronger and more natural, because it’s about what you absolutely do not want to happen.

How would you say this in the past tense: “I didn’t want to get into an accident”?

You put vilja in the past tense, but keep lenda in the infinitive:

• Present: Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi. – I don’t want to get into an accident.
• Past: Ég vildi ekki lenda í slysi. – I didn’t want to get into an accident.

The past forms of vilja start with vild‑:

• ég vildi – I wanted
• þú vildir – you wanted
• hann/hún/það vildi – he/she/it wanted
• etc.

Are there other common ways to express a similar idea in Icelandic?

Yes, depending on the nuance you want:

• Ég vil alls ekki lenda í slysi.
  – I absolutely don’t want to get into an accident. (adds emphasis with alls ekki)

• Ég vil ekki slasast.
  – I don’t want to get hurt / injured. (focuses on injury, not specifically “an accident”)

• Ég vona að ég lendi ekki í slysi.
  – I hope I don’t get into an accident. (shifts from “not wanting” to “hoping it doesn’t happen”)

But for directly saying “I don’t want to get into an accident,” Ég vil ekki lenda í slysi is the standard, natural phrasing.