Ég þarf að hvíla mig eftir fundinn.

I need to rest after the meeting.

Breakdown of Ég þarf að hvíla mig eftir fundinn.

• ég: I
• þurfa: to need
• eftir: after
• fundurinn: the meeting

Questions & Answers about Ég þarf að hvíla mig eftir fundinn.

Why is there an að after þarf?

Because þurfa normally takes að + infinitive.

So:

• ég þarf = I need
• að hvíla = to rest

Together, ég þarf að hvíla means I need to rest.

You cannot normally leave out að here.

What form is hvíla?

Hvíla is the infinitive, the basic dictionary form of the verb.

After að, Icelandic usually uses the infinitive:

• að hvíla = to rest

So this is similar to English to rest.

Why does the sentence say hvíla mig? Why is mig there at all?

Because Icelandic often uses a reflexive idea here: literally, to rest myself.

So:

• hvíla mig = rest myself
• natural English translation: rest

English usually does not say I need to rest myself in this situation, but Icelandic commonly uses the object pronoun.