When attending a retirement party, a formal farewell, or giving a toast, you will want to know how to honor your host and wish them well.
In Icelandic, the present subjunctive (viðtengingarháttur nútíðar) is not just for subordinate clauses. It can also stand alone in main clauses to express hopes, wishes, blessings, and exhortations.
Toasting and Honoring
Before jumping into the subjunctive, let's look at the basic vocabulary of celebrations. When raising a glass to someone or something, you use the phrase skál fyrir (cheers to) followed by the dative case.
| I want to honor the guest of honor tonight. | Mig langar að heiðra heiðursgestinn í kvöld. |
| Cheers to the guest of honor! | Skál fyrir heiðursgestinum! |
Direct Subjunctive Wishes
To express a formal wish—such as "Long live..." or "May he enjoy..."—you can use the present subjunctive as the main verb of an independent sentence.
In these exhortations, the sentence starts with the subjunctive verb, directly followed by the subject.
| Long live the guest of honor! | Lifi heiðursgesturinn! |
| May he enjoy his retirement! | Njóti hann starfsloka sinna! |
For the verb vera (to be), you can use the standard present subjunctive form sé, but you will also frequently encounter the older, formal subjunctive form veri, which is heavily used in traditional blessings.
| May the blessing always be with you! | Sé blessunin ávallt með þér! |
| May she always be welcome at our place! | Veri hún ávallt velkomin hjá okkur! |
Using Megi (May)
Another common and elegant way to offer blessings is by using the verb mega. In the subjunctive, it becomes megi (may).
To form this, start with megi, follow it with the subject, and place your main verb in the infinitive. This structure is the exact equivalent of saying "May [something] [happen]..." in English.
| May the future be successful! | Megi framtíðin verða farsæl! |
| May prosperity always follow you! | Megi velfarnaður ávallt fylgja þér! |
| May good fortune be with you all! | Megi gæfan vera með ykkur öllum! |
This phrasing is widely used alongside nouns related to success, joy, and luck, making it perfect for the heartfelt conclusion to a speech.
