Breakdown of Hún ætlar að syngja lagið.
hún
she
að
to (infinitive marker)
ætla
to intend
syngja
to sing
lagið
the song
Questions & Answers about Hún ætlar að syngja lagið.
How do we say "is going to" in this sentence?
In Icelandic, to say you intend or plan to do something in the future, you use the verb ætla (to intend) followed by að and the dictionary form (infinitive) of the action verb. Together, ætlar að syngja translates perfectly to "is going to sing".
Why does the verb ætla have an "-r" at the end here?
Where is the word for "the" in "the song"?
Icelandic usually doesn't use a separate word for "the" like English does. Instead, it attaches the definite article directly to the end of the noun. The base word for "song" is lag, and because it is a neuter noun, we add the suffix -ið to make it lagið (the song).
Is lagið in a special case because it is being sung?
Yes, it is the direct object (the thing receiving the action), so it is in the accusative case. Luckily for learners, neuter nouns like lagið look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in the basic subject (nominative) case, so the spelling doesn't change!
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