Let's Do It: Verb-First Word Order
When organizing an event, you will need to rally the team and suggest tasks. In Icelandic, the simplest way to say "Let's do something" is to drop the pronoun "we" and put the verb in its first-person plural form (which usually ends in -um) right at the beginning of the sentence.
Let's use this verb-first word order to start planning an auction (uppboðið) and designing a poster (plakatið).
| Let's discuss the auction today! | Ræðum uppboðið í dag! |
| Let's organize the auction for the charity! | Skipuleggjum uppboðið fyrir góðgerðarstarfið! |
| Let's design the poster for the event! | Hönnum plakatið fyrir viðburðinn! |
Gathering Support
To make the event a success, you will need promotional material (kynningarefnið) and a sponsor (styrktaraðilinn). You can use this same verb-first structure to encourage (hvetja) others to jump in and distribute the materials.
| Let's print the promotional material right away! | Prentum kynningarefnið strax! |
| Let's find a sponsor for the auction! | Finnum styrktaraðila fyrir uppboðið! |
| Let's encourage them to sponsor the project! | Hvetjum þau til að styrkja verkefnið! |
Using "Við skulum"
Another very common way to suggest an action is using the phrase við skulum (we shall / let us) followed by the bare infinitive of the main verb.
This is perfect for proposing next steps, like writing up the meeting minutes (fundargerðin) or reminding the team to help each other out (hjálpast að).
| Let's write the meeting minutes now. | Við skulum skrifa fundargerðina núna. |
| Let's distribute the promotional material tomorrow. | Við skulum dreifa kynningarefninu á morgun. |
| Let's help each other if the project is difficult. | Við skulum hjálpast að ef verkefnið er erfitt. |