Ég vil ekki sleppa morgunmatnum í dag.

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Breakdown of Ég vil ekki sleppa morgunmatnum í dag.

• ekki: not
• vilja: to want
• morgunmatur: the breakfast

Questions & Answers about Ég vil ekki sleppa morgunmatnum í dag.

Why is vil used here instead of vilja?

Vilja is the dictionary form, meaning to want. In the sentence, the verb has to match ég (I), so it becomes vil, the 1st person singular present form.

This verb is irregular, so its present-tense forms are worth memorizing:

• ég vil — I want
• þú vilt — you want
• hann/hún/það vill — he/she/it wants

So Ég vil simply means I want.

Why is there no að before sleppa?

Because vilja normally takes a bare infinitive in Icelandic.

So you say:

• Ég vil fara — I want to go
• Ég vil borða — I want to eat
• Ég vil ekki sleppa — I do not want to skip

English uses to after want, but Icelandic does not use að here.

Doesn’t sleppa usually mean something like let go? How does it mean skip here?