To talk about future plans or what you intend to do, Icelandic uses the verb ætla.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| ég | ætla |
| þú | ætlar |
| hann/hún/það | ætlar |
| við | ætlum |
| þið | ætlið |
| þeir/þær/þau | ætla |
The "ætla að" construction
To express an intention, pair a conjugated form of ætla with að and the infinitive of your action verb. This is just like saying "going to [do something]" in English.
| I am going to cook the food tonight. | Ég ætla að elda matinn í kvöld. |
| She is going to sing the song. | Hún ætlar að syngja lagið. |
| We are going to sell the computer. | Við ætlum að selja tölvuna. |
Questions and negation
To ask a question, invert the subject and the verb (ætla). To make the sentence negative, place ekki (not) after the conjugated verb (or after the subject in a question), but before að.
| Are you not going to dance? | Ætlar þú ekki að dansa? |
| When is the girl going to sing the song? | Hvenær ætlar stelpan að syngja lagið? |
Adding adverbs
Adverbs like kannski (maybe) and bráðum (soon) frequently accompany future intentions. Remember the V2 (Verb-Second) rule: if a sentence starts with kannski, the verb ætla must come immediately after it, pushing the subject to the third position.
| Maybe they are going to start now. | Kannski ætla þeir að byrja núna. |
| The child is going to sleep soon. | Barnið ætlar að sofa bráðum. |
Chaining verbs
If your plan involves a verb that itself requires að (like starting to do something), just chain them together. Notice how að appears twice here:
| The teacher is going to start to cook. | Kennarinn ætlar að byrja að elda. |
