Questions & Answers about Ég ætla að vera hér lengur.
What does ætla mean here—does it mean plan, intend, or be going to?
Að ætla (að) basically means to intend / to plan / to mean to. In everyday Icelandic it often matches English be going to when you’re talking about intention (not a neutral prediction).
So Ég ætla að vera hér lengur is about your intention/plan to remain longer.
Why is there an að before vera?
After many verbs (including ætla) Icelandic typically uses að + infinitive to introduce the action you intend/plan to do.
Here:
- ætla = conjugated verb (I intend)
- að vera = infinitive phrase (to be/stay)
In informal speech you may sometimes hear Ég ætla vera hér lengur (dropping að), but the standard, careful form keeps að.
Why does vera translate like stay here? I thought it meant be.
Vera literally means to be, but with a place adverb like hér (here) it often corresponds to English stay/remain.
So vera hér can naturally mean be here / stay here depending on context.
How is Ég ætla conjugated—what form is ætla?