Nennir þú að koma með mér í búðina eftir vinnu?

Nenna is a very common Icelandic verb that is hard to translate with just one English word. It often means something like:

• to feel like doing something
• to have the energy for something
• to be willing to bother
• to be up for it

So Nennir þú að koma... is softer and more natural than a plain ability question like Can you come... It suggests Would you feel like coming... or Can you be bothered to come... depending on tone and context.

It is a very everyday verb in Icelandic.

Because this is a yes-no question.

In Icelandic, yes-no questions usually put the finite verb first:

• Statement: Þú nennir að koma með mér í búðina eftir vinnu.
• Question: Nennir þú að koma með mér í búðina eftir vinnu?

So this is normal Icelandic question word order.

Here að is the infinitive marker, like English to in to come.

The verb nenna is followed by another verb in the infinitive, and that infinitive normally takes að:

• nenna að lesa = feel like reading
• nenna að fara = feel like going
• nenna að koma = feel like coming

So að koma simply means to come.

It means come with me.

Breakdown:

• koma = come
• með mér = with me

So að koma með mér is literally to come with me.

This is a very normal way to invite someone to join you somewhere.

Because með is a preposition, and it takes the dative case.

The pronoun ég changes by case:

• ég = I
• mig = me, accusative
• mér = me, dative

Since með takes dative, you must say með mér.

This is one of the most useful patterns to memorize:

• með mér = with me
• með þér = with you
• með honum = with him
• með henni = with her

Because í can take different cases depending on whether there is movement or location.

• í + accusative = motion into / to a place
• í + dative = being in a place

Here the idea is going to the store, so Icelandic uses accusative:

• í búðina = to the store

Compare:

• Ég fer í búðina. = I am going to the store.
• Ég er í búðinni. = I am in the store.

That is a very important Icelandic pattern.

It shows that the noun is:

• singular
• definite
• accusative
• feminine

The basic noun is búð = shop, store.

With the attached definite article, it becomes:

• búðin = the store, nominative
• búðina = the store, accusative
• búðinni = the store, dative

So búðina means the store in the case required here.

Grammatically, yes, it is the store rather than just a store.

But in real everyday Icelandic, fara í búðina is often used very naturally in the same general way English speakers say go to the store. It does not always need to mean one highly specific, uniquely identified shop. It can simply mean the store someone normally has in mind in the situation.

So the definite form is normal here.

Eftir vinnu means after work.

A few useful points:

• eftir = after
• vinna = work
• after eftir, the noun is in the required case form, and here that form is vinnu

This expression works much like English after work: it often appears without an article and without a possessive.

So Icelandic usually says:

• eftir vinnu = after work

not necessarily:

• eftir vinnuna = after the work
• eftir mína vinnu = after my work

Those versions are possible in more specific contexts, but the plain everyday time expression is eftir vinnu.

Because from the speaker’s point of view, this is an invitation to join me. Icelandic often uses koma með mér in exactly that way.

So even though English sometimes thinks in terms of go to the store, Icelandic very naturally says come with me to the store when inviting someone along.

That makes að koma með mér a very natural choice in this sentence.

A few natural replies are:

• Já, ég nenni því. = Yes, I feel like it.
• Já, endilega. = Yes, sure / absolutely.
• Já, ekkert mál. = Yes, no problem.
• Nei, ég nenni því ekki. = No, I do not feel like it.
• Því miður, ég get ekki. = Sorry, I cannot.

If you want to sound especially natural, short answers are very common too:

• Já.
• Já, endilega.
• Nei, því miður.

The letter þ is pronounced like the th in thing.

So þú sounds roughly like thoo with the oo of food, though the exact Icelandic vowel is not identical to English.

A few pronunciation notes from the whole sentence:

• þ = th as in thing
• ð = usually like th in this
• að is often pronounced very lightly in normal speech

So learners often hear the sentence a bit more smoothly than it looks on the page.