Breakdown of Ég fer í garðinn núna.
ég
I
núna
now
fara
to go
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
garðurinn
the park / the garden
Questions & Answers about Ég fer í garðinn núna.
Why does the sentence use í to mean "to"? Doesn't í usually mean "in"?
You are right that í means "in" when you are stationary. But when you use it with a verb of motion like fer (go), it acts like "into" or "to". Because you are moving into the physical space of the park, you use í.
Why is the word for "the park" written as garðinn instead of garðurinn?
Because the preposition í shows motion here, it forces the following noun into the accusative case. The basic dictionary word for park is garður. In the accusative, it drops the -ur to become garð. Then, we add the accusative "the" ending (-inn) to get garðinn.
I learned that "to" is til. Why can't I say "Ég fer til garðinn"?
In Icelandic, til is mostly used when going to a person, a country, or a city. For local, everyday places like a park, a school, or a store, you use í (into) or á (onto). Additionally, til requires a completely different grammar case (the genitive), while í for motion uses the accusative.
Why is there no word for "am" in Ég fer?
Icelandic doesn't have an exact match for the English "am doing" structure. Ég fer translates to both "I go" and "I am going". Adding the word núna (now) makes it perfectly clear that the trip to the park is happening right at this moment.
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