Obligations and Duties with "eiga að"
To talk about duties, responsibilities, or things you are "supposed to" do, use the verb eiga with the infinitive marker að.
On its own, eiga usually means "to own" or "to have." However, when paired with að and a main verb in the infinitive, the meaning changes to "to have to" or "to be supposed to."
Eiga is an irregular verb. Here is its present tense conjugation:
| Pronoun | Verb |
|---|
| ég | á |
| þú | átt |
| hann/hún/það | á |
| við | eigum |
| þið | eigið |
| þeir/þær/þau | eiga |
To form a sentence, use the conjugated form of eiga, follow it with að, and then place your main action verb in its infinitive form.
Questions and Daily Chores
To ask what someone is supposed to do, you can turn these statements into questions simply by swapping the subject and the verb eiga.
This structure is extremely common when organizing daily life, such as delegating household chores or schoolwork. Many common chores in Icelandic use two-word phrasal verbs, such as taka til (to tidy up) and vaska upp (to wash dishes).
You can easily use eiga að alongside other verbs to contrast what you intend to do (ætla að) with what someone else is supposed to do.