Breakdown of Þau munu tala íslensku saman í kvöld.
tala
to speak
saman
together
íslenskur
Icelandic
í kvöld
tonight
Questions & Answers about Þau munu tala íslensku saman í kvöld.
Why does the sentence start with Þau? What does that pronoun imply?
Þau is the 3rd-person plural neuter pronoun (they). Icelandic uses:
- þeir = they (masculine plural)
- þær = they (feminine plural)
- þau = they (neuter plural) and very commonly for a mixed-gender group, or when you’re talking about children/young people as a group, or an unspecified group. So Þau doesn’t mean the people are “neuter” in English terms; it’s often the default for “they” when the group isn’t all-male or all-female.
What is the role of munu here? Is it the future tense?
munu is a present-tense form of the verb munu used as a future/likely future auxiliary:
- Þau munu tala = they will / they are going to speak Structure: munu + infinitive (here, tala). It often suggests a prediction/expectation (“will probably/are expected to”), but in many contexts it’s just a neutral “will.”
Can Icelandic use the present tense instead of munu to talk about the future?