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Learn Hardcore Icelandic: Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld. - We are frying chicken tonight.

Hardcore Icelandic
/Lesson 48
/Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.

Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.

Word

Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.

Meaning

We are frying chicken tonight.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Icelandic

Lesson

Breakdown of Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.

Questions & Answers about Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.

What does við mean here?

Við means we.

It is the subject pronoun, so it tells you who is doing the action. In this sentence, við is the group that is cooking the chicken.

Why is the verb steikjum ending in -um?

Because steikjum is the 1st person plural present-tense form of steikja.

So:

ég steiki = I cook/fry/roast
þú steikir = you cook/fry/roast
við steikjum = we cook/fry/roast

The -um ending matches við = we.

Is steikjum present tense or future tense?

Grammatically, it is present tense.

However, just like in English, Icelandic often uses the present tense for a planned future action. So Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld can naturally mean:

We are cooking chicken tonight
We’ll cook chicken tonight

The time phrase í kvöld makes it clear that the action is happening later today.

Why is it and not ?

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kjúkling

kjúklingur

Because kjúkling is the accusative singular form, and it is the direct object of the verb.

The dictionary form is kjúklingur = chicken. But Icelandic nouns change form depending on their grammatical role.

Here:

kjúklingur = nominative, usually the subject form
kjúkling = accusative, used here because the chicken is what we are cooking

So:

Kjúklingur er góður. = Chicken is good.
Við steikjum kjúkling. = We are cooking chicken.

Why is it kjúkling and not kjúklinginn?

Because kjúkling is indefinite: chicken rather than the chicken.

Icelandic usually adds the definite article to the end of the noun:

kjúklingur = a chicken / chicken
kjúklingurinn = the chicken
kjúkling = chicken (object form)
kjúklinginn = the chicken (object form)

So:

Við steikjum kjúkling. = We are cooking chicken.
Við steikjum kjúklinginn. = We are cooking the chicken.

What exactly does steikja mean?

Steikja usually means to fry, to pan-fry, or more generally to cook by frying/roasting.

In everyday usage, it can sometimes sound a bit broader than a strict English dictionary equivalent, depending on the food and context. So in a sentence like this, it often simply suggests cooking chicken in a way that involves heat in a pan or similar method.

Learners should be aware that the best English translation can vary with context.

What does í kvöld mean literally, and why is í used?

Í kvöld means tonight.

Literally, í often means in, and kvöld means evening. But together, í kvöld is a fixed time expression meaning tonight / this evening.

This is very common in Icelandic. You do not need to translate it word-for-word every time; it is best learned as a set phrase.

Can í kvöld go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. Icelandic word order is somewhat flexible, especially with time expressions.

These are all natural or possible depending on emphasis:

Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld.
Í kvöld steikjum við kjúkling.

The second version puts more focus on tonight.

A useful thing to notice: if a time phrase comes first, the verb usually comes next, so you get:

Í kvöld steikjum við...

not

Í kvöld við steikjum...

That is part of the normal Icelandic verb-second pattern.

Do you always need to say við, or could you just say Steikjum kjúkling í kvöld?

You often can leave out the pronoun in Icelandic because the verb ending already gives information about the subject.

So Steikjum kjúkling í kvöld can work in context, especially in informal speech, where steikjum already suggests we.

Still, including við is very normal and often clearer, especially for emphasis or when the subject has not already been established.

Why is there no separate word for are in this sentence?

Because Icelandic does not need a separate auxiliary like English are in this kind of sentence.

English often says:

We are cooking chicken tonight

But Icelandic can simply use the present-tense verb:

Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld

So the single verb steikjum carries the main meaning by itself.

How is Við steikjum kjúkling í kvöld pronounced?

A rough learner-friendly approximation is:

vith stay-kyum KYOO-kling ee kvuhld

A few helpful notes:

ð in við is soft; at the end of a word it is often weak in pronunciation.
steikjum has a y-like sound in the second part.
kjúkling begins with a sound that is not exactly like normal English k.
kvöld has a rounded vowel that does not match English perfectly.

If your goal is good pronunciation, it is best to listen to native audio, because the spelling-to-sound relationship in Icelandic takes some practice.

What is the basic sentence structure here?

The structure is:

subject + verb + object + time expression

So:

Við = subject
steikjum = verb
kjúkling = object
í kvöld = time expression

This is a very useful basic pattern to recognize in Icelandic.

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