Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Ég hugsa oft um líf mitt og framtíðina. - I often think about my life and the future.

Ég – pronoun, 1st person singular, nominative (“I”)
hugsa – verb, 1st person singular present tense of að hugsa (“to think”)
oft – adverb (“often”)
um – preposition (“about”), takes the accusative case
líf – noun, neuter, singular, accusative here (“life”)
mitt – possessive pronoun (minn = “my”), neuter, singular, accusative, agreeing with líf
og – conjunction (“and”)
framtíðina – noun, feminine, singular, accusative definite (“the future”)

Why is it Ég hugsa and not something like Ég hugsar with an -r ending?

Icelandic present tense endings are not the same for all persons. For the verb hugsa, the present tense is:

ég hugsa – I think
þú hugsar – you (singular) think
hann/hún/það hugsar – he/she/it thinks
við hugsum – we think
þið hugsið – you (plural) think
þeir/þær/þau hugsa – they think

So, in the first person singular (with ég), the correct form is just hugsa without -r. The -r ending appears in the second and third person singular forms (þú hugsar, hann hugsar).

Why is it um líf mitt og framtíðina and not some other case? What case is used here?

The preposition um (“about”) in this meaning always takes the accusative case.

So everything governed by um must be in the accusative:

um líf mitt
- líf – accusative singular (same form as nominative for this neuter noun)
- mitt – accusative singular neuter, agreeing with líf
(um) framtíðina
- framtíðina – accusative singular definite (from framtíð “future”)

Even though um is only written once, it logically applies to both líf mitt and framtíðina, and that’s why both nouns are accusative.

Why is it líf mitt instead of mitt líf?

In Icelandic, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun, especially in normal, neutral sentences:

bíllinn minn – my car
húsið mitt – my house
líf mitt – my life

You can put the possessive before the noun (mitt líf), but that often adds emphasis or feels less neutral, for example:

mitt líf could sound more like “my life (as opposed to someone else’s)” or stylistically marked.

So in a simple statement like this, líf mitt is the most natural order.

Why does mitt end in -tt? How is it agreeing with líf?

The base possessive pronoun is minn (“my”). It must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes.

líf is:
- neuter
- singular
- accusative (because of um)

The neuter singular accusative form of minn is mitt:

masculine: minn (acc.sg.)
feminine: mína (acc.sg.)
neuter: mitt (acc.sg.)

So you get:

um líf mitt – about my life
(neuter noun + neuter possessive in the same case)

Why is it framtíðina and not just framtíð?

Framtíðina is the definite form: “the future”.

base noun: framtíð – “future”
definite nominative singular: framtíðin – “the future”
definite accusative singular: framtíðina

Since um takes the accusative, and we are saying “the future”, we use:

um framtíðina – about the future

Using just framtíð without the definite ending would sound more like “about a future / future in general”, and is less natural in this context. In English we also say “my life and the future,” not “my life and future” (in this meaning).

Why is it líf mitt og framtíðina and not repeating “my” before “future”, like líf mitt og framtíð mín?

In Icelandic, you don’t need to repeat the possessive if it’s clear it applies to both items, especially if the second noun is in the definite form, which already strongly suggests it’s “the” personal future of the speaker in this context.

So:

um líf mitt og framtíðina
is understood as “about my life and (my) future”.

You can say um líf mitt og framtíð mína, but it sounds heavier and more emphatic. In normal speech and writing, Icelanders are happy to leave out the second “my” when the meaning is obvious.

Why is the adverb oft placed after hugsa, and could I say Ég oft hugsa um… instead?

In Icelandic, in a simple main clause:

the finite verb usually comes in second position
adverbs like oft commonly come after the verb

So:

Ég hugsa oft um líf mitt…
Subject (Ég) – verb (hugsa) – adverb (oft) – rest.

Putting oft before the verb, as in Ég oft hugsa…, is not natural word order in standard modern Icelandic.

You can move oft around for emphasis, but you must keep the verb in second position. For example:

Oft hugsa ég um líf mitt og framtíðina.
(“Often I think about my life and the future.” – emphasis on “often”)

Here Oft is in first position, so hugsa must come second, and ég comes after it.

Why is present tense hugsa used here instead of a future tense? In English we “will think” for future.

Icelandic does not have a separate simple future tense like English will.

For general habits or repeated actions (including those that continue into the future), Icelandic uses the present tense, just like English does in sentences such as “I often think about my life.”

If you really wanted to emphasize future intention, you could use an auxiliary like mun or ætla, but for a neutral statement about what you (regularly) do, Ég hugsa oft… with the present tense is completely natural and usually the best translation of “I often think…”

What would the sentence look like in another person? For example, “He often thinks about his life and the future”?

You mainly change the subject and the verb form, and usually also the possessive:

Hann hugsar oft um líf sitt og framtíðina.

Breakdown:

Hann – he (3rd person masc. nominative)
hugsar – 3rd person singular present of hugsa
oft – often
um líf sitt – about his life (reflexive possessive sitt, referring back to hann)
og framtíðina – and the future

Note the change from hugsa (ég) to hugsar (hann).

How do you pronounce the words in this sentence?

Approximate IPA and an English-based guide:

Ég – /jɛːɡ/ or /jɛː/
(like “yeh” with a long vowel; the g is often very soft or hardly heard)
hugsa – /ˈhʏɡsa/
- h as in English “hat”
- u (ʏ) like the German ü in müde or like French u in lune
- gs often sounds a bit like ks; whole word somewhat like “HUKS-a” with round lips
oft – /ɔft/
Similar to English “oft” with a more rounded o.
um – /ʏm/ or /ʏm̥/
Short, rounded vowel like in hugsa, then m.
líf – /liːv/
Long í like “lee” but held longer; final f sounds like v: “leev”.
mitt – /mɪht/
Short i like English “bit”; tt is often pronounced /ht/ in Icelandic.
og – /ɔɣ/ or /ɔ/
The g is a voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ or very weak; often sounds close to “oh”.
framtíðina – /ˈframˌtʰiːðɪna/
- fram – like “fram” in “frantic” (but shorter)
- tíð – “teeð”: long í
  - soft voiced ð (like th in “this”)
- ina – “i-na” with short i

Spoken naturally, the whole sentence flows as:

[jɛː(ɡ) ˈhʏɡsa ɔft ʏm liːv mɪht ɔ framˌtʰiːðɪna]