Ef ég fæ skilaboðin í dag, þá svara ég strax.

If I get the messages today, then I reply immediately.

Breakdown of Ef ég fæ skilaboðin í dag, þá svara ég strax.

• ég: I
• strax: immediately
• ef: if
• þá: then

Questions & Answers about Ef ég fæ skilaboðin í dag, þá svara ég strax.

What does ef mean, and how is it used here?

Ef means if.

Here it introduces the condition:

Ef ég fæ skilaboðin í dag = If I get the message today

So the sentence has two parts:

• the if-clause: Ef ég fæ skilaboðin í dag
• the main/result clause: þá svara ég strax

This is a very common Icelandic pattern for conditional sentences.

What form is fæ?

Fæ is the 1st person singular present tense form of the verb fá = to get / to receive.

So:

• ég fæ = I get
• þú færð = you get
• hann/hún/það fær = he/she/it gets

It is an irregular verb, so the form does not look exactly like the infinitive fá.

In this sentence, ég fæ means I get / I receive.

Why is the present tense used here instead of something like will get or will answer?