Ég vil ekki kvarta, en þjónustan var ekki góð í gær.

I don’t want to complain, but the service was not good yesterday.

Breakdown of Ég vil ekki kvarta, en þjónustan var ekki góð í gær.

• ég: I
• vera: to be
• ekki: not
• vilja: to want
• í gær: yesterday
• en: but
• góð: good
• þjónustan: the service
• kvarta: to complain

Questions & Answers about Ég vil ekki kvarta, en þjónustan var ekki góð í gær.

Why does vil use the infinitive kvarta without að (like “to”)?

In Icelandic, many modal/auxiliary-type verbs (including vilja “to want”) take a bare infinitive—so you say Ég vil kvarta (“I want (to) complain”) without að.
You can use að in some structures, but with vilja + infinitive it’s normally omitted.

What exactly is ekki, and where does it go in the sentence?

Ekki is the general negation word meaning “not.”
Its placement is fairly regular:

• With a present-tense verb phrase: Ég vil ekki kvarta (it comes after the finite verb vil and before the infinitive kvarta).
• With a past-tense clause: þjónustan var ekki góð (it comes after the finite verb var and before the predicate adjective góð).

Why is it Ég vil ekki kvarta and not Ég ekki vil kvarta?

Icelandic generally places ekki after the finite verb in main clauses. The finite verb here is vil (2nd position), so ekki follows it: vil ekki.
Putting ekki before the verb is not the normal neutral word order in a main clause.

Why is þjónustan written with -in at the end?

þjónusta means “service.” þjónustan is the definite form, meaning “the service.”
In Icelandic, definiteness is often expressed with a suffix attached to the noun:

• þjónusta = (a) service
• þjónustan = the service

What case is þjónustan in here, and how can I tell?

It’s nominative, because it’s the subject of the clause þjónustan var ekki góð í gær.
A quick way to check: the subject is what “was not good.” That’s “the service,” so it’s in the subject (nominative) form þjónustan.

Why is it var and not er?

var is the past tense of vera (“to be”). Since the sentence refers to í gær (“yesterday”), Icelandic uses the past tense:

• er = is
• var = was

Why is the adjective góð and not gott or góða?

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
þjónustan is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative
  So the adjective takes feminine singular nominative: góð.
  (Neutral would be gott, and other cases often look like góða, etc.)

What does en do here, and does it affect word order?

en means “but” and connects two clauses: Ég vil ekki kvarta + þjónustan var ekki góð í gær.
Each clause mostly keeps normal main-clause word order. After en, it’s common to start the new clause with the subject (þjónustan) followed by the verb (var).

Is the comma before en required?

It’s very common (and often recommended) to use a comma before en when it links two independent clauses, as it does here.
So Ég vil ekki kvarta, en … is standard punctuation.

Can I drop Ég and just say Vil ekki kvarta, en…?

In neutral Icelandic, you normally keep the subject pronoun: Ég vil…
Dropping it is possible in some casual or stylistic contexts, but it’s not the default way learners should form sentences.

Does kvarta take an object, or do I need a preposition if I want to say what I’m complaining about?

kvarta can stand alone (“complain”), as in this sentence.
If you want to specify the topic, Icelandic commonly uses a prepositional phrase, e.g. kvarta yfir þjónustunni (“complain about the service”). (You’ll often see yfir with a dative form.)

How do I pronounce tricky words like þjónustan and í gær?

Key points:

• þ in þjónustan is like English th in think (voiceless).
• ð (as in góð) is like English th in this (voiced), though it can be weaker depending on position.
• jó in þjón- is roughly like “yo” (with Icelandic vowel quality).
• í in í gær is a long “ee” sound.
• æ in gær is like the vowel in “eye” for many speakers (often [ai]-like).