Willingness (vera til í)

Expressing Willingness

To express being "up for" an activity or wanting to participate, use the idiomatic construction vera til í.

Being Up For Something (Nouns)

When you are up for a specific thing, follow vera til í with a noun. The preposition í requires the accusative case here.

Are you up for our potluck tonight?
Ertu til í samskotaveisluna okkar í kvöld?

This is a great way to coordinate a potluck and see what guests want to eat.

Do you want the pasta salad, or are you rather up for the cheese platter?
Langar þig í pastasalatið, eða ertu frekar til í ostabakkann?

Being Up For Doing Something (Verbs)

To express being up for doing an activity, follow vera til í with and a verb in the infinitive.

Who is up for bringing the finger food?
Hver er til í að koma með fingramatinn?
Should you want the cheese platter, then I am up for sharing it.
Viltu ostabakkann, þá er ég til í að deila honum.

Whipping Up a Dish

A great Icelandic idiom for "whipping up" a quick dish is skella í (literally: "to slam into"). As with vera til í, the following noun takes the accusative case.

I intend to whip up one delicious dip.
Ég ætla að skella í eina gómsæta dýfu.
If the teacher wants a home-baked cake, then I am up for whipping one up.
Ef kennarinn vill heimabakaða köku, þá er ég til í að skella í eina.

Contributors