Ég ætla að steikja fisk í kvöld.

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Breakdown of Ég ætla að steikja fisk í kvöld.

• ætla: to plan
• fiskurinn: the fish
• í kvöld: tonight

Questions & Answers about Ég ætla að steikja fisk í kvöld.

What does ætla mean in this sentence? Is it the same as will in English?

Ætla literally means to intend / to plan.

In this sentence, Ég ætla að steikja fisk í kvöld is closer to:

• I intend to fry fish tonight
• I’m going to fry fish tonight (I’ve decided / I plan to)

Icelandic doesn’t have a single future tense like English will.
Instead, it usually uses:

• present tense
  • context
• or verbs like ætla (intend), munu (will/shall) to express future.

So ég ætla emphasizes your intention or plan, not just a neutral prediction about the future.

Why is there an að before steikja? What does að do here?