Ég ætla að setja upp skjávarpann fyrir fundinn.

Ætla að + infinitive means intend to, plan to, or very often be going to.

So Ég ætla að setja upp... means that the speaker has the intention or plan to do it soon. It is one of the most common ways Icelandic expresses a future action.

Here að is the infinitive marker, like English to.

So:

• setja = set / put
• að setja = to set / to put

After ætla, Icelandic normally uses að + infinitive:

• Ég ætla að fara = I’m going to go
• Ég ætla að borða = I’m going to eat
• Ég ætla að setja upp... = I’m going to set up...

Icelandic often does not use a special future tense the way English does with will. Instead, it commonly uses present-tense forms plus context or a construction like ætla að.

So even though ætla is present tense in form, the whole expression gives a future meaning.

Other future-like ways exist in Icelandic, but ætla að is very natural when you mean I’m planning/intending to do something.

Setja upp is a very common verb phrase meaning set up, install, or put up, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means set up in the sense of preparing equipment.

That is important because:

• setja by itself usually means put or place
• setja upp has the more specific meaning set up

So you should learn setja upp as a unit, not just translate each word separately.

Because without upp, the meaning would be different.

Compare:

• setja skjávarpann = put/place the projector
• setja upp skjávarpann = set up the projector

The word upp helps create the phrasal meaning set up. This is somewhat similar to English verb-particle combinations like set up, turn on, or pick up.

Because skjávarpann is the definite accusative singular form of skjávarpi.

It changes for two reasons:

1. It is the direct object of setja upp, so it appears in the accusative.
2. It is definite, meaning the projector, not a projector.

So roughly:

• skjávarpi = a projector (dictionary form / nominative)
• skjávarpa = a projector (accusative)
• skjávarpann = the projector (accusative)

Because fundinn is also a definite accusative singular form.

The base noun is fundur = meeting.
Here it appears as fundinn because:

• it follows the preposition fyrir
• fyrir takes the accusative in this meaning
• the noun is definite: the meeting

So:

• fundur = meeting (nominative)
• fund = meeting (accusative)
• fundinn = the meeting (accusative)

Here fyrir means for.

So fyrir fundinn means for the meeting.

This tells you the purpose or occasion: the projector is being set up in connection with the meeting.

A useful extra point: fyrir + accusative can also mean before in some contexts, so context matters. In this sentence, the intended meaning is for the meeting, though the idea of doing it before the meeting is naturally implied.

In Icelandic, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word in front.

So:

• skjávarpann = the projector
• fundinn = the meeting

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of saying a separate word like the, Icelandic often builds that meaning into the noun itself.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Ég = subject
• ætla = finite verb
• að setja upp = infinitive phrase
• skjávarpann = direct object
• fyrir fundinn = prepositional phrase

So the overall structure is:

Subject + finite verb + infinitive phrase + object + prepositional phrase

That is very normal here. Also, Icelandic main clauses usually follow a verb-second pattern, and this sentence fits that pattern naturally because the subject comes first and the finite verb comes second.

You would remove the definite endings and use the indefinite forms.

For example:

• Ég ætla að setja upp skjávarpa fyrir fund.

That means something like I’m going to set up a projector for a meeting.

Compare:

• skjávarpann = the projector
• skjávarpa = a projector
• fundinn = the meeting
• fund = a meeting

So the endings on the nouns carry a lot of information: case, number, gender, and whether the noun is definite.