When dining at a formal restaurant, expressing subjective recommendations, strict requirements, or hopes requires a special verb mood: the present subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur nútíðar). In English, this often looks like the base form of the verb ("I ask that he pour the wine" rather than "pours").
For weak verbs (Group 1 like nota and Group 2 like hella), forming the present subjunctive is straightforward. The singular endings are always -i, -ir, -i, and the plural endings are -um, -ið, -i.
| Pronoun | nota (Group 1) | hella (Group 2) |
|---|
| ég | noti | helli |
| þú | notir | hellir |
| hann/hún/það | noti | helli |
| við | notum | hellum |
| þið | notið | hellið |
| þeir/þær/þau | noti | helli |
Notice how the subjunctive endings overwrite the usual present tense vowels. For example, hann notar (Group 1) becomes hann noti, and þeir hella (Group 2) becomes þeir helli.
Requirements and Rules
Phrases that set expectations, like krefjast þess að (to require that) or það er mikilvægt að (it is important that), trigger the subjunctive in the following clause.
Expressing Hopes
The present subjunctive is also used for hopes about the present or future, typically after vona að (to hope that).