Questions & Answers about Við biðjum um annan matseðil.
What does each word in Við biðjum um annan matseðil mean literally?
Word‑by‑word:
- Við – we (1st person plural pronoun).
- biðjum – ask / are asking (1st person plural present tense of the verb biðja – to ask, request).
- um – for / about; here it’s part of the verb phrase biðja um = to ask for something.
- annan – another (masculine, accusative singular of annar = another, other).
- matseðil – menu (accusative singular of matseðill, a masculine noun).
So literally: We ask for another menu.
Why is it biðjum and not biðja or biður?
Because biðjum is the correctly conjugated form for we in the present tense:
- Infinitive: að biðja – to ask
- 1st person singular: ég bið – I ask
- 2nd person singular: þú biður – you ask
- 3rd person singular: hann / hún / það biður – he / she / it asks
- 1st person plural: við biðjum – we ask
- 2nd person plural: þið biðjið – you (pl) ask
- 3rd person plural: þeir / þær / þau biðja – they ask
So with við you must use biðjum.
biðja is the infinitive, and biður is a 2nd/3rd person singular form, not compatible with við.