Breakdown of Við undirbúum okkur fyrir viðtalið í kvöld.
Questions & Answers about Við undirbúum okkur fyrir viðtalið í kvöld.
Við is the 1st‑person plural subject pronoun we. In modern Icelandic you normally keep the subject pronoun even though the verb ending already shows the person/number. Dropping við is uncommon outside of poetry, headlines, or very informal/context-heavy speech.
undirbúum is the verb undirbúa (to prepare) conjugated in present tense, 1st person plural.
Typical present endings for many verbs include -um for we.
So: (við) undirbúum = we prepare / we are preparing (depending on context).
okkur means us and it’s used reflexively here: undirbúa sig = to prepare oneself.
With við (we), the reflexive object form is okkur (us/ourselves).
So the structure is literally: We prepare us → natural English: We prepare ourselves.
It’s accusative. Many Icelandic verbs take a specific case for their object; undirbúa (sig) typically takes accusative.
Reflexive pronouns have different forms depending on case; okkur can be accusative or dative in other sentences, but here the verb’s pattern points to accusative.
Not really in standard usage. Icelandic does have -st forms, but undirbúa isn’t normally used as undirbúast in the sense of prepare oneself. The natural, standard phrasing is undirbúa sig → undirbúum okkur.
Here fyrir means for / in preparation for. In that meaning it takes the accusative.
That’s why you get fyrir viðtalið (accusative form).
Yes, fyrir can govern accusative or dative, and the meaning changes. A common rule of thumb:
- fyrir + accusative: direction/goal, purpose, for (as here), sometimes before (time)
- fyrir + dative: location (in front of at rest), cause (because of), or responsibility/on behalf of (depending on context)
So fyrir viðtalið fits the goal/purpose idea: preparing for the interview.
viðtalið is definite: the interview. Icelandic usually marks the with a suffix attached to the noun.
viðtal is a neuter noun, and neuter singular definite is commonly -ið:
- viðtal = an interview
- viðtalið = the interview
That i is part of how many Icelandic nouns attach the definite ending smoothly. For neuter nouns like viðtal, the definite form is typically:
- viðtal + -ið → viðtalið
It’s a very common pattern and worth learning as a chunk: viðtalið.
í kvöld is a fixed, very common time expression meaning tonight.
The preposition í is frequently used with time spans/points in time in Icelandic (similar to English in): í dag (today), í gær (yesterday), í kvöld (tonight).
With time expressions like í kvöld, it’s treated as accusative (even though you don’t see a special ending on kvöld here).
A common guideline:
- í + accusative: motion into / time (many set phrases)
- í + dative: location in (static position)
Yes. Icelandic present tense often covers planned or near-future actions, especially with a time word like í kvöld.
So the same form can naturally mean We’re preparing tonight / We’ll be preparing tonight, depending on context.
The basic order is Subject – Verb – (Object) – (Other phrases):
- Við (S) undirbúum (V) okkur (O) fyrir viðtalið (prep phrase) í kvöld (time)
You can move í kvöld earlier for emphasis, but Icelandic is a V2 language (the finite verb is the second main element). For example:
- Í kvöld undirbúum við okkur fyrir viðtalið.
Here Í kvöld is first, so undirbúum must stay second.
A few common ones:
- ð in Við and viðtalið is usually a soft voiced sound (often like th in this, and sometimes very weak at the end).
- kv in kvöld is pronounced as a cluster (roughly kv-).
- Stress is usually on the first syllable: UN-dir-bú-um, VIÐ-tal-ið, KVÖLD (first syllable stress within each word).