Amma vill prjóna nýja peysu fyrir dóttur mína í vetur.

Grandma wants to knit a new sweater for my daughter this winter.

Breakdown of Amma vill prjóna nýja peysu fyrir dóttur mína í vetur.

• vilja: to want
• minn: my
• fyrir: for
• í: in

Questions & Answers about Amma vill prjóna nýja peysu fyrir dóttur mína í vetur.

Why is vill prjóna used instead of a single verb form like prjónar?

Because vilja means to want / to want to, and it is followed by an infinitive.

• vill = wants
• prjóna = to knit

So Amma vill prjóna means Grandma wants to knit.

If you said Amma prjónar, that would mean Grandma is knitting / Grandma knits, which is a statement about what she does, not what she wants to do.

Why is there no að before prjóna?

After modal-type verbs like vilja (want), Icelandic normally uses the infinitive without að.

So:

• vill prjóna = wants to knit
• not vill að prjóna

This is similar to English in a way, except English uses to, while Icelandic often leaves it out after certain verbs.

What form is vill, and why not vil or vilt?