Ég borða lítið í kvöld.

I

Breakdown of Ég borða lítið í kvöld.

• borða: to eat
• í kvöld: tonight
• lítið: little

Questions & Answers about Ég borða lítið í kvöld.

Why is borða in the present tense if the English translation is “I will eat little tonight”?

Icelandic very often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the time is clearly stated, like í kvöld (this evening / tonight).

So:

• Ég borða lítið í kvöld. = I will eat little tonight / I’m eating little tonight.
• Literally it’s “I eat little tonight”, but with í kvöld it’s naturally understood as future.

There is a future auxiliary (mun), but it’s used less often than English will, and often adds more emphasis or formality:
Ég mun borða lítið í kvöld. – I will (indeed) eat little tonight.

What does each word in Ég borða lítið í kvöld literally mean and what role does it play in the sentence?

Word by word:

• Ég – I (subject, nominative case)
• borða – eat (verb, present tense, 1st person singular)
• lítið – little / not much (here used as an adverb, modifying borða)
• í – in (preposition, here forming a time expression)
• kvöld – evening / night (neuter noun; together with í it means this evening / tonight)

So the structure is: Subject – Verb – Adverb – Time expression.