Questions & Answers about Hann vildi ekki drepa.
What does vildi mean, and what is its dictionary form?
Vildi is the past tense of vilja, which means to want. In this sentence, hann vildi means he wanted.
A useful basic pattern is:
- vilja = to want
- ég vil = I want
- hann vill = he wants
- hann vildi = he wanted
So Hann vildi ekki drepa literally has the structure He wanted not to kill / He did not want to kill.
Why is ekki placed before drepa?
Ekki means not, and in this sentence it negates the infinitive phrase drepa.
So:
- hann vildi drepa = he wanted to kill
- hann vildi ekki drepa = he did not want to kill
In Icelandic, ekki often comes after the finite verb, which is what happens here:
- vildi = finite verb
- ekki = not
- drepa = infinitive
That word order is very normal.
Why is there no word for to before drepa?