Breakdown of Ég ætla að elda matinn í kvöld.
ég
I
maturinn
the food
að
to (infinitive marker)
í
in / into / to (before the hour, in telling time) / per (in frequency expressions)
kvöldið
the evening
ætla
to intend
elda
to cook
Questions & Answers about Ég ætla að elda matinn í kvöld.
How does the ætla að construction work here to mean "going to"?
Icelandic doesn't have a dedicated future tense. Instead, it uses the verb ætla (to intend / to plan) followed by að and the infinitive of the main verb (here, elda, meaning to cook). This works just like saying "I am going to" in English!
If I want to say "I am going to cook," do I always need the word að?
Yes! Whenever you use ætla with another verb to say what you intend to do, you must include the infinitive marker að (which acts like the English word "to") right before the second verb. It is always ætla að plus the action.
Why is the word for food matinn instead of just matur?
Two things are happening here! First, matur (food) changes to mat because it is the direct object of the verb elda (the thing being cooked), so it takes the accusative case. Second, the suffix -inn is attached to the end to mean "the". So, mat plus -inn becomes matinn (the food).
Does í kvöld literally translate to "tonight"?
Literally, it translates to "in evening" (í = in, kvöld = evening). In Icelandic, this is the standard phrase used to say "tonight" or "this evening."
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