Við erum að fara að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift.

We are about to mix a new sauce following a recipe.

Breakdown of Við erum að fara að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift.

• við: we
• nýr: new
• sósan: the sauce
• vera að fara að: to be about to
• blanda: to mix
• eftir: following
• uppskriftin: the recipe

Questions & Answers about Við erum að fara að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift.

Why is it Við here, and when would I use okkur instead?

Við is the nominative form meaning we, used for the subject of the sentence.
You’d use okkur (accusative/dative) when we/us is an object, e.g. Hann sér okkur (He sees us) or Hann hjálpar okkur (He helps us).

Why is it erum and not something like er?

að vera (to be) is irregular and conjugates by person/number. With við (we), the present tense form is við erum.
Singular vs. plural: ég er, þú ert, hann/hún/það er, við erum, þið eruð, þeir/þær/þau eru.

What is the construction erum að ... doing here?

vera að + infinitive is a very common way to express an ongoing action (similar to English be + -ing), or to set up a “right now / in progress” framing.
Here it’s part of a bigger structure: við erum að fara að ....

Why are there two aðs: erum að fara að blanda?

They belong to two different pieces:

• erum að = vera að (progressive framing)
• fara að + infinitive = a set phrase meaning be about to / going to / start to do something

So Við erum að fara að blanda ... is literally like We are (in the process of) going to start/are about to mix .... You generally keep both aðs in this meaning.

Is this sentence present tense or future tense?

Grammatically, erum is present tense, but að fara að + infinitive often expresses an intended/near-future action (similar to going to in English). Icelandic frequently uses present-tense forms to talk about the future when the context makes it clear.

Why is blanda in this form—why not a conjugated verb?

After að (the infinitive marker), Icelandic uses the infinitive form of the verb. So you get að blanda = to mix.
If it were the main finite verb without this construction, you’d conjugate it, e.g. Við blandum sósu (We mix sauce).

Why does it say nýja sósu (and not some other ending on nýr/ný), and what case is sósu?

blanda here takes a direct object in the accusative, so sósa becomes sósu (accusative singular).
The adjective must match gender/number/case: sósa is feminine singular, and in accusative singular feminine you get nýja.
If you meant the new sauce (definite), you’d typically say nýju sósuna (adjective + noun both in definite form).

What does eftir uppskrift mean grammatically, and what case does eftir take?

Here eftir means according to / following (a recipe). In this meaning, eftir normally governs the dative.
With uppskrift, the singular forms nominative/accusative/dative happen to look the same (uppskrift), so you can’t “see” the case ending here—but it’s still functioning as dative.

Could I replace eftir uppskrift with another expression?

Yes. Common alternatives include:

• samkvæmt uppskrift = according to the recipe (a bit more formal)
• eftir þessari uppskrift = following this recipe (adds a demonstrative and makes the case clearer)

How would the meaning change if I removed parts of the verb phrase?

Some close variants:

• Við erum að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift. = We are mixing a new sauce (right now/in progress).
• Við förum að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift. = We start mixing a new sauce (more like “we begin”).
• Við ætlum að blanda nýja sósu eftir uppskrift. = We intend/plan to mix a new sauce (focus on intention rather than “about to”).

Any pronunciation tips for tricky words in this sentence?

A few common hurdles:

• Við: the ð is often very soft; many learners hear something like við with a gentle “th” feel.
• erum: the e is short; the r is tapped/rolled compared to most English accents.
• uppskrift: clusters like -pskr- take practice; pronounce it in parts: upp-skrift.