Breakdown of Ég vil spila borðspilið í kvöld.
Questions & Answers about Ég vil spila borðspilið í kvöld.
A rough, learner-friendly guide (with stress usually on the first syllable of each word):
- Ég ≈ yegh (the g is a voiced fricative in careful speech; many learners hear something like a soft gh)
- vil ≈ vil (short i)
- spila ≈ SPEE-la
- borðspilið ≈ bords-SPEE-lith / bors-SPEE-lith (the ð in borðs- is often very weak or not clearly pronounced in this consonant cluster)
- í kvöld ≈ ee kvuhlt (the ö is like a rounded vowel; ld tends to sound like lt)
If you want, I can write it in IPA too.
Icelandic is a verb-second (V2) language in main clauses: the finite verb (here vil) normally comes in the second “slot” of the sentence.
- Slot 1: Ég
- Slot 2 (finite verb): vil
- Then the rest: spila borðspilið í kvöld
If you move something else to the front, vil still stays second:
- Í kvöld vil ég spila borðspilið.
After many modal/auxiliary-type verbs, Icelandic typically uses a bare infinitive (no að), similar to English can go, must leave (not can to go). vilja (to want) commonly works this way:
- Ég vil spila... (bare infinitive)
You can see að in other structures (especially with verbs like ætla in many contexts):
- Ég ætla að spila... (very common)
vil is 1st person singular present tense of vilja (to want). A common present-tense set is:
- ég vil
- þú vilt
- hann/hún/það vill
- við viljum
- þið viljið
- þeir/þær/þau vilja
So Ég vil... matches the subject Ég.
No—spila is the infinitive (dictionary form). The conjugated (finite) verb in the clause is vil. If spila were the main verb, you’d conjugate it:
- Ég spila (I play)
- Ég spila í kvöld (I’m playing tonight)
Because -ið is the definite article suffix for a neuter noun in the singular (in nominative/accusative).
- borðspil = a board game / board game (indefinite)
- borðspilið = the board game (definite, a specific one)
Icelandic usually marks the by attaching it to the noun rather than using a separate word.
Common options:
- Ég vil spila borðspil í kvöld. (very natural: “play board games / play a board game,” depending on context)
- Ég vil spila eitt borðspil í kvöld. (explicitly “one board game”)
Using borðspilið strongly suggests a specific board game already known in the conversation.
It’s the direct object of spila, so it’s normally accusative. However, borðspil is neuter, and in Icelandic the neuter singular nominative and accusative forms are often identical, including in the definite form:
- nominative/accusative: borðspilið
So you tell mainly by its role (object of the verb), not by a visible ending change here.
Icelandic forms compounds very freely, so borðspil is a normal compound: borð (board/table) + spil (game). In related forms you may see a linking -s- (historically genitive-like), especially in longer compounds (and it shows up in the spelling/pronunciation behavior of the cluster):
- borðspil (board game) You’ll meet lots of similar compounds in Icelandic.
í kvöld is an idiomatic time expression meaning tonight / this evening. The preposition í is commonly used with time spans/points in Icelandic in ways that don’t map 1:1 to English prepositions. For many learners, it’s best to memorize í kvöld as a fixed phrase.
Yes. It’s flexible, but remember V2:
- Í kvöld vil ég spila borðspilið. (fronted time expression; quite natural)
- Ég vil spila borðspilið í kvöld. (neutral/default)
Both are correct; the first can feel a bit more like you’re emphasizing tonight.
Negation usually uses ekki (not), typically after the finite verb (and often after the object too, depending on style):
- Ég vil ekki spila borðspilið í kvöld. (I don’t want to play it tonight)
Yes/no question: Icelandic often keeps word order and relies on intonation, or you can front the verb:
- Intonation: Ég vil spila borðspilið í kvöld?
- Verb first: Vil ég spila borðspilið í kvöld? (possible, often a bit marked; common in some styles)
A very common conversational question is:
- Viltu spila borðspilið í kvöld? (Do you want to play the board game tonight?)