Ég ætla að kíkja við hjá ömmu á sunnudag.

Ætla að + infinitive is a very common Icelandic pattern meaning to intend to, to be going to, or to plan to do something.

So:

• Ég ætla að kíkja við = I’m going to drop by / I intend to stop by

It often sounds very natural in everyday speech, much like English I’m going to....

Kíkja við is an idiomatic expression meaning to drop by, to stop by, or to pop in briefly.

The verb kíkja by itself originally has the sense of peek/look, but in the expression kíkja við, the meaning becomes more like a short informal visit.

So:

• kíkja við hjá ömmu = drop by grandma’s
• not necessarily a long or formal visit

This makes the sentence sound casual and everyday.

No. In this sentence, við is not the preposition meaning with.

Here it is a particle that belongs to the expression kíkja við. You should learn kíkja við as a unit.

So it is better to think of:

• kíkja við = drop by
• not kíkja
  • separately translating við

This is similar to how English has phrasal verbs like stop by or drop in, where the small word changes the meaning of the verb.

Hjá usually means at, with, or at the place of someone.

In this sentence, hjá ömmu means something like:

• at grandma’s
• by grandma’s place

So:

• kíkja við hjá ömmu = drop by grandma’s

This is very natural Icelandic when talking about visiting a person at their home or place.

Because hjá takes the dative case, and the dative singular of amma is ömmu.

The noun changes like this:

• nominative: amma
• accusative: ömmu
• dative: ömmu
• genitive: ömmu

So after hjá, you need:

• hjá ömmu
• not hjá amma

This is one of the most important things to get used to in Icelandic: prepositions often control a specific case.

In Icelandic, family words are often used without a possessive like my when the meaning is obvious from context.

So:

• hjá ömmu often naturally means at my grandma’s
• even though my is not explicitly said

If needed, Icelandic can say hjá ömmu minni, but that is often more specific, emphatic, or stylistically heavier than necessary in ordinary conversation.

This is different from English, where grandma often needs my unless the relationship is already very clear.

Á sunnudag is the normal way to say on Sunday.

Here:

• á = on
• sunnudag is the form used in this time expression

So the whole phrase is just the standard Icelandic way to express the day when something happens.

You will see the same pattern with other weekdays:

• á mánudag = on Monday
• á þriðjudag = on Tuesday
• á föstudag = on Friday

It is best to learn these as set time expressions.

Usually it means on Sunday, and the exact reference depends on context.

In a sentence like this, it will very often be understood as:

• this coming Sunday
• or Sunday in the relevant context

If a speaker wants to be more definite, they might also say á sunnudaginn, which often feels more like on Sunday / this Sunday in a specific situation.

So á sunnudag is natural and common, but context tells you which Sunday is meant.

Yes. Icelandic word order is flexible, although not completely free.

The sentence:

• Ég ætla að kíkja við hjá ömmu á sunnudag.

could also be:

• Á sunnudag ætla ég að kíkja við hjá ömmu.

That version puts more focus on á sunnudag.

Notice that when something else comes first, the finite verb ætla comes before the subject ég:

• Á sunnudag ætla ég...

This is a standard Icelandic pattern and something learners should get used to.

It is similar, but not exactly the same.

• kíkja við hjá ömmu = drop by grandma’s, casual, probably brief
• heimsækja ömmu = visit grandma, more neutral and direct

So kíkja við feels more informal and often suggests a short stop, while heimsækja can be used for a visit of any normal length and sounds less conversational.

In careful pronunciation, you can think of it roughly as:

• Ég ætla að kíkja við hjá ömmu á sunnudag

A rough English-friendly guide might be:

• yeg AYT-la ath KEE-kya vith hyow UM-mu ow SUN-nu-thag

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• Ég begins with a y-like sound
• ætla has a sound somewhat like eye-tla
• ð in að and við is a soft sound, like th in this
• hjá starts with an hy sound
• ö does not exist in English; it is somewhat like the vowel in French bleu or German schön
• sunnudag has stress on the first syllable: SUN-nu-dag

In fast speech, little words like að may be reduced, so the whole sentence can sound smoother and more connected than the spelling suggests.