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Icelandic

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.

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### 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.

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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.

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### 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.

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This phrasing is widely used alongside nouns related to success, joy, and luck, making it perfect for the heartfelt conclusion to a speech.

Wishes and exhortations (subjunctive)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)

Singular pronouns and to be (ég er, þú ert)

Singular adjective agreement

Yes/no questions (ert þú…?)

Basic negation (ekki)

Plural pronouns and to be (við erum, þeir eru)

Group 1 weak verbs (-ar)

Group 2 and 3 verbs (-ir, -ur)

Information questions (hvað, hver, hvar)

Expressing opinions (mér finnst, mér líkar)

Expressing desires (mig langar)

Numbers 1 to 10 (einn, tveir, þrír)

Direct objects on indefinite nouns

Direct objects on definite nouns

Singular object pronouns (mig, þig...)

Plural object pronouns (okkur, ykkur...)

Directional prepositions (um, í, á)

Verb-second word order

Expressing intentions (ætla að)

Needs and wants (þurfa, vilja)

Middle voice verbs (-st)

Possessive pronouns (minn, þinn)

Dative case with prepositions (í, á, frá)

Definite dative nouns (-num, -nni, -nu)

Dative personal pronouns (honum, henni, þeim)

Plural nouns (-ar, -ir, -ur)

Definite plural nouns (-nir, -nar, -in)

Accusative plural nouns

Number agreement 1 to 4 (einn, tveir…)

Singular commands

Past tense of the verb to be (var, vorum)

Present continuous (vera að)

Strong verbs in the present tense

Weather and dummy subjects (það)

Invariable possessive pronouns (hans, hennar, þeirra)

Accusative possessives (minn, þinn)

Accompaniment (með)

Dative plural (-um, -unum)

Compound sentences (og, en, eða)

"This" in the nominative (þessi, þessi, þetta)

"This" in the accusative (þennan, þessa, þetta)

Accusative adjectives (-an, -a, -t)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the accusative (einn, tvo, þrjá)

Third-person reflexive pronouns (sig, sér)

The preposition "to" with the genitive (til)

Subordinating conjunctions (að, af því að)

Simple past of weak verbs (-aði)

Question words (hvernig, hvaða)

Physical possession (vera með)

Abstract possession (hafa)

Telling time (hálf, korter)

Plural commands (-ið)

The simple past tense (-di, -ti, -ði)

Possessive noun endings (-s, -ar)

Days of the week (á mánudaginn, á mánudögum)

Kveðjur — greetings (halló, bless)

Um mig — where I am from

Kurteisi — please, sorry, congratulations

Ability and knowing how (kunna að)

Permission (mega)

Obligation (eiga að)

Plural strong verbs

Numbers 11 to 20 (ellefu, tólf...)

Counting by tens to 100 (þrjátíu, fjörutíu...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (fyrsti, annar...)

All / everything / everyone (allur)

The indefinite pronoun someone (einhver)

The indefinite pronoun no one (enginn)

Compound numbers from 21 (tuttugu og)

This in the dative singular (þessum, þessari, þessu)

These in the dative plural (þessum)

My and your in the dative (mínum, þínum)

Numbers 1 to 4 in the dative (einum, tveimur)

Adjectives in the dative singular (-um, -ri, -u)

Adjectives in the dative plural (-um)

Reflexive possessive in the accusative (sinn, sína, sitt)

Reflexive possessive in the dative (sínum, sinni)

Reflexive versus regular possessives (sinn, hans)

Demonstrative plural (þessir, þessar, þessi)

Definite genitive singular (-sins, -arinnar)

Indefinite genitive plural (-a)

Definite genitive plural (-anna)

Genitive prepositions (án, milli, vegna)

Prepositions of direction (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Prepositions of static location (yfir, undir, fyrir)

Question	Answer
the guest of honor	heiðursgesturinn
Long live the guest of honor!	Lifi heiðursgesturinn!
to honor	heiðra
I want to honor the guest of honor tonight.	Mig langar að heiðra heiðursgestinn í kvöld.
to toast	skála
We are toasting now because we must honor you.	Við skálum núna af því að við þurfum að heiðra þig.
cheers	skál
Cheers to the guest of honor!	Skál fyrir heiðursgestinum!
the retirement (end of employment)	starfslokin
May he enjoy his retirement!	Njóti hann starfsloka sinna!
We are celebrating his retirement tomorrow.	Við fögnum starfslokum hans á morgun.
successful	farsæll
Cheers to new and successful years!	Skál fyrir nýjum og farsælum árum!
May the future be successful!	Megi framtíðin verða farsæl!
the prosperity	velfarnaðurinn
always	ávallt
May prosperity always follow you!	Megi velfarnaður ávallt fylgja þér!
May she always be welcome at our place!	Veri hún ávallt velkomin hjá okkur!
the joy	gleðin
May joy follow another generation!	Megi gleði fylgja annarri kynslóð!
The joy is great when people toast.	Gleðin er mikil þegar fólk skálar.
May good fortune be with you all!	Megi gæfan vera með ykkur öllum!
the blessing	blessunin
We give thanks for the success and the blessing.	Við þökkum fyrir velfarnaðinn og blessunina.
May the blessing always be with you!	Sé blessunin ávallt með þér!
May he enjoy the retirement!	Njóti hann eftirlaunanna!
May luck follow you tomorrow!	Megi gæfan fylgja ykkur á morgun!
May the joy always be with you!	Veri gleðin ávallt með ykkur!
to wish, to request (óska eftir)	óska
I wish that you would come.	Ég óska þess að þú komir.
She requested more help.	Hún óskaði eftir meiri hjálp.
hopefully	vonandi
Hopefully the sun comes tomorrow.	Vonandi kemur sólin á morgun.
Hopefully the exam goes well.	Vonandi gengur prófið vel.

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