Fæ ég að opna gluggann?

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Breakdown of Fæ ég að opna gluggann?

• opna: to open
• glugginn: the window
• fá að: to be allowed

Questions & Answers about Fæ ég að opna gluggann?

What does Fæ ég mean here?

Here fæ is the 1st person singular present tense of fá, which often means to get or to receive.

But in the pattern fá að + infinitive, it means to be allowed to or to get to do something.

So:

• fæ ég að opna gluggann? = May I open the window? / Can I open the window?
• literally, something like Do I get to open the window?

Why does the sentence start with the verb Fæ instead of ég?

Because this is a question.

In Icelandic, yes/no questions often have verb-first word order:

• statement: Ég fæ að opna gluggann. = I may / get to open the window.
• question: Fæ ég að opna gluggann? = May I open the window?

This is similar to English word order in questions:

• I can open the window.
• Can I open the window?

Why is there an að before opna?