Breakdown of Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni.
Questions & Answers about Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni.
In this sentence, vil is a modal verb (like want, can, must in English).
In Icelandic, the common modal verbs – e.g.
- vilja (to want)
- geta (to be able to)
- eiga að (should, ought to)
- þurfa (to need to)
are typically followed directly by an infinitive without að:
- Ég vil bíða. – I want to wait.
- Ég get talað. – I can speak.
- Ég þarf að tala. – I need to speak. (here að is part of þurfa að as a phrase)
So the pattern Ég vil bíða is correct, and adding að (Ég vil að bíða) would be wrong here. The að + infinitive construction is used in other situations (e.g. Ég reyni að bíða – I try to wait), but not after vil.
In neutral Icelandic word order, ekki normally comes after the finite verb in a main clause.
Here:
- vil is the finite (conjugated) verb
- ekki follows it: Ég vil ekki bíða…
General pattern:
- Ég fer ekki. – I am not going / I don’t go.
- Við höfum ekki tíma. – We don’t have time.
Ég ekki vil bíða is ungrammatical in standard Icelandic word order.
You can move ekki in more complex sentences for emphasis or in subordinate clauses, but in a simple main clause like this, [subject] + [finite verb] + ekki is the normal pattern:
- Ég vil ekki…
- Hann komst ekki.
- Þau skildu ekki.
Vil works like English want to and must be followed by the infinitive of the next verb:
- Ég vil bíða. – I want to wait.
- Ég vil borða. – I want to eat.
- Ég vil sofa. – I want to sleep.
Bíða = infinitive (to wait).
bíð = 1st person singular present (I wait).
After vil, you never conjugate the second verb; you keep it in the infinitive:
- ✅ Ég vil bíða.
- ❌ Ég vil bíð.
Lengi is an adverb meaning for a long time / long, used with actions:
- bíða lengi – wait for a long time
- vera lengi – be (somewhere) for a long time
- tala lengi – talk for a long time
Langur is an adjective meaning long (describing a noun):
- langur tími – a long time
- löng bið – a long wait
You could express the idea with a noun + adjective:
- Ég vil ekki bíða í langan tíma. – I don’t want to wait for a long time.
But when you modify the verb directly, you use the adverb:
- Ég vil ekki bíða lengi. – more natural, shorter.
Umferð means traffic (a mass noun).
Í umferðinni literally: in the traffic.
- í – in (preposition)
- umferðinni – dative singular, definite form of umferð
Icelandic often uses the definite form where English uses no article with mass nouns:
- í umferðinni – in (the) traffic
- í rigningunni – in the rain
- í snjónum – in the snow
So í umferðinni corresponds to normal English in traffic; it doesn’t necessarily refer to some specific, previously mentioned traffic. It’s just how Icelandic typically phrases it.
The base noun is umferð (feminine, singular only).
When you say í umferðinni, the preposition í is used with the dative case (in this locational meaning: in, inside something).
Declension (simplified):
- Nominative: umferð – traffic (as subject)
- Accusative: umferð
- Dative: umferð → with definite article: umferðinni
Definite endings for feminine singular often involve -in / -inni in oblique cases. Here:
- indefinite dative: í umferð – in traffic
- definite dative: í umferðinni – in the traffic
In real usage, í umferðinni is the most idiomatic choice for in traffic.
Yes, í umferð is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit more bare or technical. In everyday speech, í umferðinni is much more natural.
Rough feel:
Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni.
– Neutral, idiomatic: I don’t want to wait long in traffic.Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferð.
– Grammatically ok but sounds less idiomatic, almost like “in (some) traffic” as an abstract condition.
So you should generally prefer í umferðinni for normal conversation.
Yes. Icelandic word order is fairly flexible with adverbials, though some orders are more natural.
All of these are possible:
Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni.
– Very natural, probably the most common.Ég vil ekki bíða í umferðinni lengi.
– Also fine; puts a bit more weight on í umferðinni, then adds how long.Ég vil ekki lengi bíða í umferðinni.
– Grammatically ok, but this order is less typical in neutral speech; can sound slightly more poetic or emphatic.
In general:
- Time adverbs like lengi often come earlier, right after the verb or object.
- Place adverbs/prepositional phrases (í umferðinni) often come after time, but you can swap them for emphasis or style.
Ég vil ekki… literally I don’t want (to)… is direct but not inherently rude. Context and tone matter, just like in English.
To sound softer or more polite, Icelandic speakers often use:
Mig langar ekki að bíða lengi í umferðinni.
– I don’t feel like waiting long in traffic.Ég vil helst ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni.
– I would rather not / I’d prefer not to wait long in traffic.Ég vil ekki þurfa að bíða lengi í umferðinni.
– I don’t want to have to wait long in traffic. (negative feeling about the situation, not about the person)
So Ég vil ekki bíða lengi í umferðinni is perfectly normal, but these alternatives can sound more tactful in some situations.
Very rough guide (not IPA, just a feel):
- Ég – like yeh with a slightly longer vowel (often close to “yeah” but shorter and tenser).
- vil – like vil in “villager”, short i.
- ekki – “EH-kki”, with kk pronounced as a hard, doubled k sound.
- bíða – “BEE-tha”, where ð is a soft th as in “this”.
- lengi – “LENG-i”, like leng- in “length” plus a short i.
- í – long ee sound, “ee”.
- umferðinni – approx. “UHM-ferth-inni”:
- um – like English oom but with a very short vowel, more like clipped um.
- ferð – ferth (soft ð as in “this”).
- inni – “in-ni”, with a clear double n.
Spoken normally, the sentence flows quite smoothly: “Yeh vil EH-kki BEE-tha LENG-i ee UHM-ferth-inni.”
(Actual Icelandic pronunciation is more precise and uses long/short vowels and consonant length, but this gives you a workable approximation.)