Ég sé þjóninn á veitingastaðnum.

I

Breakdown of Ég sé þjóninn á veitingastaðnum.

• sjá: to see
• veitingastaðurinn: the restaurant
• á: at

Questions & Answers about Ég sé þjóninn á veitingastaðnum.

Why is it sé and not sjá?

Because sjá is the infinitive, meaning to see. In the sentence, the verb is conjugated for I, so it becomes ég sé = I see.

This verb is a bit irregular. In the present tense:

• ég sé = I see
• þú sérð = you see
• hann/hún/það sér = he/she/it sees

So sé is just the correct present-tense form with ég.

What case is ég, and why?

Ég is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the seeing.

In Icelandic, subjects are usually in the nominative. Compare:

• ég = I
• mig = me

So you use ég here because I am the one performing the action.

Why does þjóninn end in -inn?

The ending -inn shows that the noun is definite, so þjóninn means the waiter, not just a waiter.

Icelandic usually does not use a separate word like English the. Instead, the definite article is attached to the end of the noun.

So:

• þjónn = waiter
• þjóninn = the waiter

Why is it þjóninn and not þjónninn?