Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við ætlum að safna blómum í garðinum. - We are going to collect flowers in the garden.

In practice, „ætla“ + að + infinitive is one of the most common ways to talk about the future in Icelandic, so it often corresponds to English “be going to”, for example:

Ég ætla að lesa. – I intend to read / I’m going to read.
Við ætlum að safna blómum. – We intend to collect flowers / We’re going to collect flowers.

So in this sentence, „ætlum“ is:

Present tense of ætla
First person plural (we)
Used as a future / intention marker

How is „ætla“ conjugated, especially the form „ætlum“?

„ætla“ (to intend) in the present tense:

ég ætla – I intend / I’m going to
þú ætlar – you (sg.) intend / are going to
hann / hún / það ætlar – he / she / it intends / is going to
við ætlum – we intend / we’re going to
þið ætlið – you (pl.) intend / are going to
þeir / þær / þau ætla – they intend / are going to

In our sentence, „ætlum“ is 1st person plural: we intend / we’re going to.

Why do we say „að safna blómum“ and not just „safna blómum“?

After „ætla“, you normally use „að“ + infinitive, just like English “to” + verb.

ætla að safna – to intend to collect
ætla að borða – to intend to eat
ætla að fara – to intend to go

So the pattern is:

(subject) + ætla (conjugated) + að + [infinitive]

Leaving out „að“ here („Við ætlum safna blómum“) is wrong in standard Icelandic.

What does „safna“ mean, and is it more like “pick” or “collect”?

„safna“ means “to collect, to gather”.

Context decides the best English translation:

að safna peningum – to collect/raise money
að safna frímerkjum – to collect stamps
að safna blómum – to collect/gather flowers

If you specifically mean picking flowers (from the ground/plants), another common verb is „tína“:

að tína blóm – to pick flowers (physically picking them)

But „safna blómum“ is perfectly natural and understood as gather/collect flowers.

Why is it „blómum“ and not just „blóm“ or „blómin“?

„blóm“ (flower) is a neuter noun that has the same form in singular and plural in the nominative and accusative:

Nominative sg/pl: blóm
Accusative sg/pl: blóm
Dative plural: blómum

In our sentence, „blómum“ is in the dative plural because of the verb „safna“, which requires the dative case:

að safna e-u – to collect something (with that “something” in dative)

So:

blóm → Nominative/accusative plural “flowers”
blómum → Dative plural “(to/with) flowers”

„blómin“ would be nominative/accusative plural definite: “the flowers”, and also not dative, so it wouldn’t fit after „safna“.

Why does the verb „safna“ take the dative case? That feels strange to an English speaker.

In Icelandic, many verbs govern a specific case for their object. It’s something you just have to learn with each verb.

„safna“ is one of those verbs that almost always take a dative object:

að safna peningum – to collect money (dat. pl.)
að safna steinum – to collect stones (dat. pl.)
að safna blómum – to collect flowers (dat. pl.)

So the pattern is:

safna + [object in dative]

There is no direct equivalent rule in English; it’s more like learning verb + preposition combinations, but with cases instead of prepositions.

What does „í garðinum“ mean exactly, and why is it in this form?

„í garðinum“ means “in the garden”.

Breakdown:

í – in
garður – garden (nominative singular)
garði – dative singular of garður
garðinum – dative singular with the definite ending “the garden”

So:

garður – a garden (subject form)
í garði – in a garden
í garðinum – in the garden

The ending -num is the attached definite article for masculine dative singular.

Why is it „í garðinum“ and not „í garðinn“?

In Icelandic, „í“ (in / into) can take either dative or accusative, depending on meaning:

Dative = location, “in” somewhere (static)
Accusative = movement into, “into” somewhere (direction)

Compare:

Við erum í garðinum. – We are in the garden. (dative: location)
Við förum í garðinn. – We go into the garden. (accusative: motion into)

In your sentence:

„að safna blómum í garðinum“ = to collect flowers in the garden (location)
Therefore dative: garðinum, not garðinn.

Why is the definite article attached to the noun („garðinum“) instead of a separate word like “the”?

Icelandic does not use a separate word like English “the”. Instead, the definite article is a suffix attached to the noun (and it changes according to case, gender, and number).

For garður (garden), singular forms:

Nominative indefinite: garður – a garden
Nominative definite: garðurinn – the garden
Dative indefinite: garði – (in) a garden
Dative definite: garðinum – (in) the garden

So in the phrase „í garðinum“, you see:

garð- (root)
-i- (dative singular)
-num (definite article for masculine dative singular)

Is the word order „Við ætlum að safna blómum í garðinum“ fixed, or can it change?

The given order is the most natural and neutral:

Við ætlum að safna blómum í garðinum.

Basic structure:

Subject: Við
Verb: ætlum
Infinitive phrase: að safna blómum
Location adverbial: í garðinum

You could move „í garðinum“ earlier for emphasis or style:

Við ætlum í garðinum að safna blómum. – More marked, unusual, used only in special contexts.

But for everyday speech and writing, use the original order. Icelandic prefers Subject – Verb – (Other elements) in main clauses, just like here.

How would this sentence change if I say “We are going to collect the flowers in the garden” (the specific flowers)?

Two changes are needed:

„blómum“ → „blómunum“ to make “the flowers” in dative plural.
Keep dative because of „safna“.

So you get:

Við ætlum að safna blómunum í garðinum.
We’re going to collect the flowers in the garden.

Difference:

blómum – flowers (indefinite)
blómunum – the flowers (definite, dative plural)

How do you pronounce the tricky parts like „ætla“, „ætlum“, and „garðinum“?

Approximate pronunciations (not perfect, but helpful):

ætla – [ˈaitla]
- æ like English “eye”
- tl is pronounced with a light t followed by l, often sounding a bit like “t-la”
- Stress on the first syllable: ÆT-la
ætlum – [ˈaitlʏm]
- Same æt as in ætla
- u here is a short, rounded sound, like German ü or close to “u” in “put”
- Stress on the first syllable: ÆT-lum
garðinum – [ˈkarðɪnʏm]
- g at the start is a hard “g” (like in “go”)
- ar a bit like “ar” in “car”
- ð is a voiced “th” sound, as in “this”
- i as in “bit”
- num with a short u (similar to “noom” but with a shorter, more central vowel)
- Stress on the first syllable: GAR-ðinum

Stress in Icelandic is almost always on the first syllable of the word.